Date: 8/11/18

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Course: Real Club de Golf El Prat

Prize Fund: €35,000

Thursday 8th November sees the start of the final event of the LET Access Series season. For those of you that don't know about the access series, it is similar to the Challenge Tour on the men's circuit. It provides a great launchpad for players to earn their card for the full LET. It also provides a great learning platform to play competitive golf and because the LET don't have events every week you get very strong fields. Meghan Maclaren won last years Order of Merit and she went on to pick up her first LET win at the beginning of the year.

The final event of the season sees the players head to Spain to play the Real Club de Golf El Prat, just outside Barcelona.

The leading five players, not otherwise exempt, will earn LET membership, while the players in positions 6 to 20 on the LETAS Order of Merit will have the opportunity to advance directly to the Final Stage of the LET’s Lalla Aicha Tour School. So there is a lot on the line this weekend!

This is how the Order of Merit looks prior to play

Sweden's Emma Nilsson leads the way and making the cut surely would see her crowned champion. Noemi Jimenez and Elia Folch both of Spain who sit 2nd and 3rd respectively would need to finish second or better to leapfrog Nilsson if the Swede missed the cut.

In Nilsson's 10 events, she has had one victory and 5 top 10 finishes, Nilsson said: “I’m looking forward to the tournament very much and I’ll just do my best and hopefully that’ll be enough to shoot some good scores.”

She continued “To win the Order of Merit would be really cool. My goal at the beginning of the season was either to finish in the top 80 on the LET Order of Merit or to finish in the top 5 on the LETAS Order of Merit to improve my category on the Ladies European Tour for 2019. I have already guaranteed a top 5 finish on the LETAS Order of Merit and I’m very happy with that, but to win the Order of Merit would be something special and I’ll do my best to do so.”

Noemi Jimenez Martin has had a season to remember. On the Access Series she has had 1 win and 6 top 10 finishes. She has also performed well on the LET currently sitting 22nd on the Order for Merit. with 5 top 20 finishes so far this season.

Folch, picked up her victory at the Bossey Ladies Championship. She has also claimed 3 top 10's. Folch, who also plays on the LET had a 7th place finish at the Jabra Ladies Open.

Other players to watch out for this weekend are;

Silvia Banon (Spain). like good friend Jimenez Martin it's been a great year for Banon. Maybe, not so much on the Access Series where her best result came in Spain back in June, where she finished T12th. However, on the LET she sits 32nd on the Order of Merit, with a runner up finish at the Women's NSW Open in Australia combined some other good finishes. She tends to play well in Spain, so should look to compete this week.

Julia Engstrom (Sweden), at the beginning of 2018, we tipped her to be one to watch for 2018, and she has not disappointed. After turning pro at the beginning of the year she picked up her first pro victory on the Access Series in Finland in June. On the LET the teenager currently leads the rookie of the year race and is 19th on the Order of Merit. She has had 4 top 15 finishes excelling at the Lalla Meryem Cup where she came 5th.

Laura Fuenfstueck (Germany), Another young player who has burst on to the scene this season. After claiming her first pro victory at the beginning of the year on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa, she has played well on the LET and Access series as well. On the Access series she currently sits 9th after 5 top 10 finishes from her 11 starts. On the LET she is 4th in the Rookie of the year race and 46th on the Order of Merit with 2 top 15 finishes in her 5 starts.

Meghan Maclaren (England). Already mentioned Maclaren won the series last year and only makes her 3rd start of the season after playing on the LET and Symetra Tour (the American equivalent of the Access Series) all year. As mentioned she won her first pro event in Australia at the beginning of the year. Apart from that, it has been a mixed year for Meghan who only made 3 cuts on the Symetra Tour. On the LET she was going well at the British Open before a final round 80 slipped her down the leaderboard. A return to form in Spain in the last LET event has pushed her up to 29th on the Order of Merit.

It should be a great event and I am predicting a Spanish winner on home soil. Follow all the action on our sites and the LET Access site.