Christel's Australian sparkle

gives her Rookie of Year lead

FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
LET rookie Christel Boeljon, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, sparkled with two fine finishes early this season in Australia.
The 21-year-old from Beverwijk in the Netherlands grabbed the lead in the race for the 2009 Ryder Cup Wales Rookie of the Year trophy with a tie for 41st at the ANZ Ladies Masters and a joint 13th finish at the Australian Open.
Her earnings of €5,476.47 from two appearances gave her the early advantage over South Korean rookie Hee-Kyung Seo, who only played at the ANZ Ladies Masters, where she tied for 20th position. As a third year member of the KLPGA, Seo won the Saint Four Ladies Masters in November last year, which was a co-sanctioned event with the LET. She is classed as a rookie even though she won six events on the KLPGA last year.
Boeljon earned her full LET card in January by finishing in fourth place at Final Q-School and she said that her performances in Australia would give her added confidence for the rest of the season.
“I think for the first two tournaments as a professional I did a good job. I always want more and want to be better but considering it’s only my first two tournaments and especially at Metropolitan, I did pretty well. It gives me a lot of confidence to know that I can play with these girls and do well.”

She said that she would give her performance seven or eight out of ten and thinks that she has the capacity to become the first rookie winner on tour since Finland’s Minea Blomqvist won the 2004 OTP Bank Ladies Central European Open, in Hungary.

“I haven’t really set any goals for the season. I just wanted to play these two tournaments and see how everything went,” she said. “Of course I think I can win but doing so is another thing. I think I can but it’s going to be hard and I’ll have to practise hard.”

Boeljon plans to spend some time practising in Spain over the next eight weeks and may return to La Manga in Murcia, where she recently attended Qualifying School. She will prepare for the Comunitat Valenciana European Nations Golf Cup which takes place at La Sella Resort in Alicante, Spain, from April 23 to 26.

Along with compatriot Marjet van der Graaff, a second year LET player, she will represent the Netherlands in the 20-nation team event. The two players know each other well.

“I don’t live all that far from Marjet and I still practise with the amateur team,” she commented, adding that she still receives beneficial support from the Dutch Federation. Van der Graaff has experience of playing in the event, having finished in fourth place representing the Netherlands with amateur Marieke Nivard on the same course last year.

Together the two young talents have a strong chance of success and Boeljon could prove the rookie to watch this year.