Marta Martín was unable to compete for the victory at the Australian Women’s Classic. The rain prevented it. A heavy downpour on Saturday night in Coffs Harbour completely flooded the Bonville Golf Resort and prevented the second and final round of the Ladies European Tour tournament. It was first reduced from 54 to 36 holes and finally left only at 18. After a long deliberation, the circuit decided to cancel the day and declare the championship unofficial. Prizes have been paid, but the points will not count for the Race to Costa del Sol.
In this way, the classification has remained as it was after playing 18 holes and in an absolutely atypical resolution it has been decided that the three leaders, Nicole Broch Estrup, Pei Ying Tsai and Jess Whitting share the victory. No one likes to resolve a tournament in this way, but the weather conditions have left no margin.
So, Marta Martín (-3), who was three strokes from the lead, with good chances of victory, has had to settle for the eleventh position. As we say, she will receive the corresponding cheque with the cash prize, but not the points of the Race to Costa del Sol. A pity. Although there is no crystal ball to know what would have happened, given the good form of the Madrid player, today she would have had a good opportunity to fight for her first victory on the Ladies European Tour.
The same can be said of Luna Sobrón (-2) and Carmen Alonso (-2), who were waiting in the background for their chance to strike in Australian lands. Further back finished Teresa Díez Moliner (-1) and Teresa Toscano (-1). The cancellation of the tournament has been especially detrimental to Díez Moliner, as it had been her first cut of the year and they had a good opportunity ahead to score the first points in the order of merit.
The tournament sponsor, NSW, has decided to pay an extra 500 dollars to the players to compensate for any additional expenses that may have arisen from the suspensions.
The Ladies European Tour now takes a week off and will return with two consecutive tests in South Africa, the Joburg Open and the South African Open.
