Caroline Hedwall and Louise Larsson of Sweden led the qualifiers from their respective fields as they breezed through the Pre-Qualifying stage of Ladies European Tour School at La Manga Club in Spain on Thursday.
Hedwall, who highlighted the quality of her play with a third round of eight under par 65 on the South course on Wednesday, signed off with a level par 71 on the North course for a 72-hole score of 277, 11 under par.
Larsson finished with a round of three under par 70 on the South Course for a 281, seven-under total, indicating the prospect of a bright future on the Ladies European Tour.
The leading 73 players will now join the existing LET members attempting to retain their cards making a field of 104 players at Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School for the 2011 season from 15-20 December at La Manga Club. At the end of five demanding rounds, the top 30 players will earn Membership of the LET in category 8a.
Hedwall, the 2010 NCAA champion and NGCA player of the year, will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of her compatriot and the leading Tour School qualifier for the 2009 season, Anna Nordqvist, who went on to win a major championship and represent Europe at The Solheim Cup in her rookie year on tour.
The 21-year-old Hedwall, who recently turned professional, certainly has the pedigree. She was the European Individual champion in 2007 and 2009, World Amateur champion in 2008 and led Sweden to gold in the European Ladies Team Championship at La Manga Club in July. She tied for eighth at the LET’s 2010 Finnair Masters in Finland and was a member of The 2007 European PING Junior Solheim Cup Team.
