Jose Luis Ballester and Rocco Repetto Taylor shared victory at the Final Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School. (Photo: Getty/DP World Tour)
Northern Ireland’s Beth Coulter has had a whirlwind rookie season on the LET Access Series (LETAS), becoming the first Irish woman to win on her professional debut at the Women’s Irish Challenge in Malahide.
Seven tournaments and two more top 10 finishes later, Coulter sits 10th in the Order of Merit (OOM) standings and is in firm contention to claim one of the seven LET cards for the 2027 season.
The 22-year-old enters the penultimate event of the 19-event LETAS season, the November 12-14 Santander Golf Tour – Girona, in good form following a top 10 finish at the Super Bock Ladies Open.
“I think my game is trending nicely,” said the Kirkistown Castle golfer. “It was a good result in Portugal after a three-week stretch. I think I kind of needed that to give me momentum going into these last two events.
“I was just out in America with my boyfriend Owen. He had come over and visited me twice, so it was my turn to go and visit him, and it came at a really nice time. I had a really nice week there, practicing and playing in good weather and I’m excited to see how that pays off.”
Despite starting her season later than most and playing just eight LETAS tournaments, the fewest events played among the top 30 in the OOM, Coulter has accumulated 939 points and trails seventh-placed Theresa De Bochdanovits by just 231 points.
Players earn 500 points for a tournament win, 320 points for a runner-up finish and 230 points for third.
“People at home keep asking me, what’s it going to take to get in the top seven,” added Coulter. “It’s hard to know. There’s so many of us that if we won in the next two events, it would obviously bump us up a lot. I think probably just focusing on myself and giving myself a chance is all I can really do.
“It probably would have been nice to have a couple more events under my belt, but I think I’ve achieved my goal of getting into the top 32. These next few weeks are about just getting ready for either next year or Q-school. And I’m really happy that I have these last two events.
“Hopefully I can play well enough to either get my card and if not, then I know I’m going to Q-school which I had thought that at the start of the year. To be in this position is pretty nice.”
It all began on home soil in Ireland, when Coulter received a tournament invite to play the Women’s Irish Challenge on home soil at Malahide Golf Club upon turning professional.
Four days later, she became the first Irish women’s professional golfer to win a professional tournament on home soil after holding her nerve in a sudden-death play-off to beat South Korea’s Ayeon Yang.
The following week at the CSK Steel Women’s Open in Denmark, Coulter nearly repeated her heroics but was pipped by Sweden’s Moa Svedenskiold in a dramatic four-hole sudden-death play-off.
“To come out that quickly and do that was really, really nice,” she said. “It was absolutely mental. We definitely celebrated, and then to back it up the next week with the second place was really, really cool. I proved to myself that it wasn’t a fluke and that I belonged here.
“Then I had to adjust my expectations because that doesn’t happen every week. Of course, it was nice to do that but golf is hard. Shane Lowry said make sure you celebrate your wins because they don’t come around often, and yeah, I definitely cherish that one.
“Now I’m just focused week to week. Every week brings a new challenge. I’m quickly learning in this lifestyle. You have to be so adaptable and you always have to be ready for something to go wrong. Last week in America was probably the first time I could actually breathe and relax.
“We were always having to think about where your golf clubs are and where you’re going next. Even something as simple as my off weeks are like, does my schedule line up with my friends’ schedules to meet up and catch up?
“I could write a book so far already in the last few months, but I’m excited about the next years ahead. I’m really enjoying it and I’m looking forward to the next two weeks and to see if I can pull off something special.”
Ahead of a crucial fortnight, Coulter has received some personal advice from former European Tour and Northern Irish golfer David Jones.
“David said to me last week that I’ve put myself in a really nice position,” she added. “I have given myself two chances at it. It’s going to be a lot, I’m not naive to the fact that it is going to be a lot, but it’s possible.
“Making it onto the LET would mean a lot. That’s been my goal since turning pro. All of my best friends that play golf are obviously Irish on the LET. And that’s a huge motivating factor for me to get out there and join them.
“Hopefully I can pull it off now before Christmas, it would be a nice little Christmas present.”