The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Murray’s Tour card marked.
AlfordgolfercelebratesaftersecuringherLETcardfollowinggreatseason
lford’s Laura Murray feels like Christmas has come early after securing her Ladies European Tour card.
The 31-year-old, who is attached to the Kippie Lodge, secured her place on the main tour after finishing third on the LET Access Series order of merit.
Murray secured graduation thanks to a superb second half of the season, which included seven top 10 finishes in nine events, including a victory at the penultimate event – the Rugenwalder Muhle Ladies Open in Germany.
Her wire-to-wire victory moved her into the top five position necessary to gain a card for next season.
Murray said: “It will be an enjoyable Christmas for the first time in a long time because every other year I have been at Q School.
“It is nice to have already secured a card for next year and I can have a little bit of an off-season.
“I feel can definitely keep my card with the way I am playing right now. The top 50 in the order of merit get a very good category for the following year and exemption for most of the dual sanctioned events, so that would be the goal.”
Murray is taking a huge amount of confidence from her season on the LET Access Series.
She said: “I really found some form in the last 10 events. That was nice because I didn’t get off to the best of starts.
“I have been working with my coach Keil Beveridge (the Kippie Lodge PGA professional), who is also my partner and we found something on a swing video that someone had taken on the course that we hadn’t noticed before.
“The next week I finished top 10 and the momentum kept going from there.”
Murray has enjoyed a taste of life on the Ladies European Tour in the past, having made it through Q School in 2015 and had partial status the following year.
She joins a growing band of Scottish golfers who have been performing well on tour with Carly Booth, Kelsey Macdonald, Kylie Henry and Michele Thomson all inside the top 60 on the order of merit this term.
Europe’s dramatic Solheim Cup victory over the United States helped showcase the excitement of women’s golf and Murray hopes the Ladies European Tour reaps the benefits of that success.
She said: “Everyone I talk to has been so surprised and buzzing about women’s golf because of the Solheim Cup. They can see it is just as exciting and interesting as the men’s game.
“It has been great for women’s golf and given us so much more exposure. Hopefully that helps us kick on and inspires some potential sponsors.”
Murray is heading out to Spain this week to play a Santander Tour event and hopes to gain a spot in the final two Ladies European Tour events of the season.
She added: “I’m heading out to play two Santander events, which is the Spanish tour.
“I will come home for a week and then play another two.
“I am applying for an invite for the Spanish Open through the Santander Tour and then hopefully I will play in the Magical Kenya Ladies Open on the following week.
“I’m still waiting for the confirmation of the invite but hopefully I get in the field as it would be nice to keep the form going.”