Six shots behind, no idea of the scores, and a boyfriend on the bag doing the maths.
Most tournament winners spend the final round with one eye on the leaderboard. Ellie Gower spent hers studiously ignoring it, which turned out to be the better plan. The 24-year-old Londoner began the last day of the Super Bock Ladies Open at Vidago Palace six shots off the lead, signed for a 67 — the joint-best round of the day — and won by two on Thursday 22 October. She found out afterwards. By asking.
The Final Round
Starting at three under par in the third-to-last group, Gower birdied the 3rd, 4th and 8th to turn in a four-way tie for the lead at six under. A bogey at the 10th barely registered. She birdied the 13th and 14th back to back, then holed a 15-footer for eagle at the par-5 17th — a nine-iron approach with the wind behind — to go four clear. A three-putt at the closing par three merely trimmed the margin to two. (LETAS)
Her total of 208, eight under par, left compatriot Billie-Jo Smith second on six under after a closing 71. There is some history here: Smith was also the player Gower beat in a play-off for her first LETAS title, at the Calatayud Ladies Open in 2024. As rivalries go, it has so far been conducted entirely in one direction. (O Jogo)
“How Have I Done?”
Gower’s boyfriend, PGA professional John Wilding, was on the bag — as he was in Calatayud — and following the live scoring as they went. When she walked off the 18th and asked how she had done, he suggested she might want to dust off her Portuguese for the presentation. Her parents were there to see it, which they had not been two years ago.
The €8,000 winner’s cheque also represents a modest improvement on her last visit. At the inaugural edition in May 2025 she finished 50th and took home €273. Vidago, it seems, rewards a second look. (O Jogo)
The Ones That Got Away
Scotland’s Lorna Mcclymont had built a three-shot lead with a bogey-free 65 in strong winds on day two, the second time in three weeks she had led a LETAS event going into the final round. A closing 76 dropped her to third on five under. Czech amateur Anna Ludvova matched Gower’s 67 to share fourth with Norway’s Silje Torvund Ohma, a shot further back.
For Portugal, Sofia Barroso Sá opened with a 71 and became only the sixth Portuguese player to make the cut at a LETAS event on home soil, before a final-round 79 left her tied 47th. Sara Gouveia, back after more than a year out with a back injury, and amateurs Francisca Ferreira da Costa and Laura Santos missed the cut. (Mais Beiras)
What the Super Bock Ladies Open Win Means
With seven Ladies European Tour cards for 2027 going to the top of the Order of Merit, and the top 30 spared the first stage of Q-School, this was a timely win. It lifts Gower from 54th into the top 20 with two events left. She admitted, with some candour, that one fewer week at Q-School suited her nicely.
The season resumes at the Santander Golf Tour – Girona event from 12 to 14 November. (Golf News)
Playing It Yourself
The Vidago Palace Golf Course is open to visiting golfers, and the 17th — the par five where the tournament turned — is the hole to circle on the card. Most of us will not be getting home with a nine-iron.
Stay at the Vidago Palace Hotel, whose owners, the Super Bock Group, put up the trophy, and a cold Super Bock on the terrace afterwards seems only fair. Add a couple of days on the coast at Oporto Golf Club and Estela, an hour and a bit away, and the north makes a fine autumn trip.
Whether LIV ever returns to
