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Spain’s Carolina Chacarra secured a three-shot victory at the Hulencourt Women’s Open to land her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) title in just her third start and become the first rookie winner of the 2026 season.
In a Sunday duel with Australia’s Kelsey Bennett, and trailing her counterpart by two shots before the start of play in Belgium, Chacarra carded a final round 68 (-4) to hoist the trophy with a winning score of 12-under par.
“The day went great and I’m so happy,” the Spanish rookie said. “No bogeys, some nice birdies, everything was great. My caddie [Ivan] talked about it at the beginning of the round about sticking to my process. We gave ourselves lots of chances on the back nine.
“I was definitely nervous, especially the last three holes. I had a little bit of adrenaline so I was telling my caddie we needed to take some metres off the yardage. But it was great. My goal was just to enjoy the week and try to get into the Scottish Open. So to win is amazing and I’m very happy.”
The victory moves Chacarra into second spot in the Rookie of the Year standings behind USA’s Anna Morgan and qualifies her for both the ISPS Handa Scottish Open and AIG Women’s Open.
It also caps off a magnificent month for the Chacarra family after her older brother, Eugenio, won back-to-back titles on the DP World Tour a few weeks ago at the KLM Open and Italian Open.
“It’s been a great few weeks,” Carolina said, who has been competing on the LPGA this season after earning dual-status back in December at both Q-Schools. “Life is treating us amazingly. My brother is my inspiration and to see him win gave me lots of momentum to keep going and try to win myself. I’m very happy. I’m super excited for the next month. It definitely changes my calendar but it’s always great to play a Major. I’m very excited and can’t wait to be there.”
Carolina Chacarra’s winning moment 🏆#HulencourtWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/BTf8sU1kqq
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) July 5, 2026
The Spaniard got the ball rolling on Sunday with a pinpoint birdie at the par-3 2nd and followed this up with another at the par-3 5th to leapfrog Bennett as the Aussie dropped a shot at the 4th.
On to the back-nine and Bennett dropped another shot at the 12th following a wayward tee shot which fell into the thick fescue at Hulencourt Golf Club. Chacarra would make her third birdie of the day after a world-class approach at the par-5 13th to give herself a three-shot cushion.
An exciting final few holes ensued as Bennett chipped in for birdie at the 16th to close the gap to one. But in the end Chacarra was too strong for the Australian as she carded another clutch birdie at the par-3 17th before two-putting on the final hole for par and a three-shot victory.
With the final round 73 (+1), Bennett, a winner at the Australian Women’s Classic earlier this year, recorded her second runner-up of season after she finished one shot behind Anna Huang at the Lalla Meryem Cup in May.
In solo third finished India’s Aditi Ashok on seven-under par as she made a memorable return to LET action. The Olympian was using this week’s event at preparation for The Amundi Evian Championship which takes place next week in France. She fired a final round 70 (-2) in Belgium to secure the top-five finish and give herself plenty of confidence heading into next week.
Two back from Ashok in a tie for fourth on four-under finished Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux and England’s Bronte Law. Both LET winners carded rounds of 70 (-2) on Sunday to secure their best results of the 2026 season.
England’s Hannah Screen had a brilliant Sunday firing a round of 66 (-6) with her dad on the bag to end the week solo sixth on three-under par. South Africa’s Nadia van der Westhuizen, USA’s Brianna Navarrosa, Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley, India’s Diksha Dagar and Finland’s Noora Komulainen, a winner last week at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open, all finished the week T7 on two-under par.
In the LET Order of Merit, South Africa’s Casandra Alexander still leads the way on 1,777.65 points. Bennett remains third but moves to 1,432.75 points after her runner-up finish in Belgium. France’s Agathe Laisne stays second on 1,518.30 points. Chacarra moves into 24th position after collecting 500.00 points for the win.
Next up on the LET is a trip to the magnificent Evian Resort in France for the fourth Major of the year, The Amundi Evian Championship. Play gets underway on Thursday July 9 at the foot of the French Alps.
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Main Image: Ladies European Tour
