Living the dream: Anne van Dam

New LET season tees-off ‘down under’ in Victoria

With six tournaments down and another 43 to go, the European Tour’s new season is already in full swing. Players on the Ladies European Tour, however, still have another ten days in which to prepare themselves for the start of their new golf season. With Australia as destination, most players will be heading ‘down under’ for the first tournament on the LET schedule after a two-month break from competitive golf. The Oates Vic Open tees-off at the 13th Beach Golf Links in Victoria from 9-12 February 2017.

For the ladies on Tour, between seasons is an important period. A time to chill-out and take a well-earned holiday. A time to reflect and regroup the brain after a frustrating year. A time to rebuild the confidence, and maybe also the swing, before training hard once more. And, naturally, for the Rookies who have earned their first year playing rights, it’s a chance to live their dream.

Coping with the frustrations on Tour

Dutch girl Anne van Dam knows at first-hand how gruelling life on Tour can be. Her 2016 season was, for most of the year, one that she couldn’t wait to forget. She had been in serious risk of losing her Tour card, but then, just when she had almost given up hope, unexpected victory in China! Let’s look back to the start of her season.

Disappointment for the player from Arnhem began in May when she had to pull-out of the newly-launched Ladies Nations Invitational in her own country due to a back injury. Months of frustration followed. Missed tournaments. Missed chances. Missed cuts. Until the tide changed.

More and more worried about retaining her card for her third season on Tour, Anne flew to China in October for the Xiamen International Ladies Open, but not before taking a few days’ rest with a friend in France to recover from yet another missed cut in the French Open.

In a twist of fate, Van Dam breaks through

In a weird twist of fate, the 21-year old discovered her form in China. Weird because Anne had mistakenly thought the event was a 3-day tournament like many on the LET schedule. And weird because the event was very nearly cancelled due to a severe typhoon hitting the area a few weeks earlier. It was not until late on the Tuesday (two days before the start of the tournament) that Anne realised she was playing in a 4-day event which meant that she only had time for one practice round.

Once over the shock, she regained her composure and focussed on the job in hand. All she could do was to make the best of the situation. And that is exactly what she did. A good practice round put her in a good frame of mind so that she arrived on the first tee at the Orient Golf and Country Club on the opening day feeling confident.

Even though Holland’s hope was right there in the mix on Sunday, indeed she shared the lead on 13-under par after 54 holes with Yuting Shi from China, her bogey at the 6th caused a two-shot swing and looked to have cost her the title. After making birdies at the 6th and the 7th, it was the 18-year old local favourite Shi who took the lead.

Yet Van Dam hung on in there. She made steady pars from the 7th until back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th boosted her score and put her in real contention for the first time in her professional career. “Keep calm”, she kept telling herself. “Be patient.” It worked.

Drama down the last, but Dutch girls keeps calm

A real drama unfolded at the 17th when Van Dam drove her ball onto the 18th fairway. Undeterred, she made an excellent recovery shot and went on to match Shi’s birdie. Down the last hole it was Shi’s turn for drama. Her drive hit a tree and bounced some 30 yards back down the fairway leaving her out of range to make the green in two. A pitch and two putts cost Shi a bogey and, as it happened, also the title.

Van Dam needed just two putts from the back of the green at the last to secure her par. It was the sweetest and most unexpected of victories for the young Dutch girl. Triumph over China’s Shi by just one stroke.

“I hadn’t even finished in the top-10 on the Ladies European Tour

… And now, the first chance to win, I win!”

– Anne van Dam

As cool as a cucumber, Anne van Dam had holed out from just inside one metre to claim her maiden LET victory with scores of 70-66-67-68 in the Xiamen International Ladies Open and bank her biggest pay-cheque to date: 45,000 euros.

In her first interview with the Dutch press, Anne admitted to ‘Golf Weekly’ that she was amazingly calm over the last few holes in China. She had surprised even herself. “Until then, I hadn’t even finished in the top-10 on the Ladies European Tour let alone been in contention. And now the first chance to win, I win!”

A week later, she excelled again in China adding another 5,430 euros to her season’s earnings for a share of 13th spot. Five-under par for her four rounds in the Qatar Ladies Open added a further 8,166.67 euros to her bank account and helped boost her end of season ranking to a very creditable 17th with total prizemoney of 81,043.74 euros earned in 2016.

Remarkable indeed, Anne – well done! Keep up the good golf in 2017!

Wendy Hoad

Nice to know …

With this win, Anne van Dam becomes only the fourth player from Holland to win on the Ladies European Tour. The player from Arnhem follows in the footsteps of Liz Weima, Christel Boeljon and Dewi Claire Schreefel.

PICTURED: Injured and unable to play, Holland’s rising star, Anne van Dam forces a smile from the sidelines during the inaugural Ladies Nations Invitational in Amsterdam, May 2016. (Below:) Posing with young fans a year earlier on the opening day of the Deloitte Ladies Open at The International.