It was the shortest tournament victory in the career of Marianne Skarpnord. But it was also the toughest.
The Norwegian was declared the winner of the South African Women's Open on Sunday after yet another brutal day of weather on the South Coast. With only the first round having been completed on Friday before the rain hit, the tournament was always under pressure to beat a freak run of weather.
Saturday's play was completely washed out. Sunday allowed for a few holes of play before first the rain caused a suspension, and then gale force winds hit the course. At around 16:00, with the forecast for Monday showing equally strong winds, the Ladies European Tour and tournament promoters took the decision to declare the winner based on the first round scores alone.
Skarpnord's three-under-par 69 was therefore good enough for the win. South Africans Ashleigh Simon and Stacy Bregman, Finland's Minea Blomqvist, England's Charley Hull, Sweden's Camilla Lennarth, America's Katie Burnett and German Nina Holleder all shared second place on tow-under-par 70.
"It's not the way we all would have liked to end the tournament, but we all understand how difficult the weather was. It was a very challenging week for everybody," said Skarpnord.
South Africa's Kim Williams finished as the leading amateur following her round of level-par 72, earning her the Jackie Mercer Trophy.
Scores: 1 Marianne SKARPNORD NOR 69 2 Camilla LENNARTH SWE 70 Stacy Lee BREGMAN RSA 70 Charley HULL ENG 70 Katie BURNETT USA 70 Minea BLOMQVIST FIN 70 Ashleigh SIMON RSA 70 Nina HOLLEDER GER 70 9 Valentine DERREY FRA 71 Cathryn BRISTOW NZL 71 Rebecca HUDSON ENG 71 Line VEDEL DEN 71 Mallory FRAICHE USA 71 Miriam NAGL GER 71 Emily TAYLOR ENG 71 16 Nontaya SRISAWANG THA 72 Sarah KING AUS 72 Melissa EATON RSA 72 Ursula WIKSTROM FIN 72 Nicola EATON RSA 72 Becky BREWERTON WAL 72 Kim WILLIAMS RSA 72 Trish JOHNSON ENG 72 Katy MCNICOLL SCO 72 Lee-Anne PACE RSA 72 Celine PALOMAR FRA 72 27 Holly CLYBURN ENG 73 Alana VAN GREUNING RSA 73 Florentyna PARKER ENG 73 Laurette MARITZ RSA 73 Lucie ANDRE FRA 73 Kylie WALKER SCO 73 Melanie MAETZLER SUI 73 Daniela HOLMQVIST SWE 73 Nikki CAMPBELL AUS 73 Georgina SIMPSON ENG 73 Louise LARSSON SWE 73 Ji Sun KANG KOR 73 Marion RICORDEAU FRA 73 Tania ELOSEGUI ESP 73 Kaisa RUUTTILA FIN 73 Monique SMIT RSA 73 Sophie WALKER ENG 73 44 Zuzana KAMASOVA SVK 74 Joanna KLATTEN FRA 74 Margherita RIGON ITA 74 Linda WESSBERG SWE 74 Titiya PLUCKSATAPORN THA 74 Nikki GARRETT AUS 74 Danielle MONTGOMERY ENG 74 Sophie GIQUEL-BETTAN FRA 74 Nicole BECKER RSA 74 Henriette FRYLINCK RSA 74 Stacey KEATING AUS 74 Mikaela PARMLID SWE 74 56 Malene JORGENSEN DEN 75 Jade SCHAEFFER FRA 75 Yu Yang ZHANG CHN 75 Tandi CUNINGHAM RSA 75 Michaela FLETCHER RSA 75 Maha HADDIOUI MAR 75 Veronica ZORZI ITA 75 Pamela PRETSWELL SCO 75 Connie CHEN RSA 75 Gwladys NOCERA FRA 75 Magda KRUGER RSA 75 Bianca THERON RSA 75 Marjet VAN DER GRAAFF NED 75 69 Jia Yun LI CHN 76 Whitney HILLIER AUS 76 Alexandra VILATTE FRA 76 Maria SALINAS PER 76 Cheyenne WOODS USA 76 Carly BOOTH SCO 76 Sophie SANDOLO ITA 76 Morgana ROBBERTZE RSA 76 Iliska VERWEY RSA 76 78 Lydia HALL WAL 77 Hannah BURKE ENG 77 Xi Yu LIN CHN 77 Anais MAGGETTI SUI 77 Julia DAVIDSSON SWE 77 Cecilie LUNDGREEN NOR 77 Sahra HASSAN WAL 77 85 Michelle DE VRIES RSA 78 Anne-Lise CAUDAL FRA 78 Leigh WHITTAKER GER 78 88 Bree ARTHUR AUS 79 Bonita BREDENHANN NAM 79 Caroline AFONSO FRA 79 Cara GORLEI RSA 79 Caryn LOUW RSA 79 Tiffany AVERN-TAPLIN RSA 79 94 Tijana KRALJEVIC RSA 80 Elina NUMMENPAA FIN 80 Nobuhle DLAMINI SWZ 80 Mandy ADAMSON RSA 80 Izel PIETERS RSA 80 99 Ashleigh HOLMES RSA 81 Lara WEINSTEIN RSA 81 101 Danielle MCVEIGH IRL 82 Paula HURTADO COL 82 Kim BROOKES RSA 82 Monja RICHARDS RSA 82 105 Sharmila NICOLLET IND 85 106 Betty MOKOENA RSA 86 107 Virginia ESPEJO ESP 88 Nicole LOESCH RSA 88
