Alice Hewson was delighted to show any remaining doubters that female golfers can go toe to toe with the men as she finished third at the 2021 Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika.
The European Tour and Ladies European Tour were breaking new ground at Vallda Golf and Country Club as 78 men and 78 women played the same course for the same trophy in an event hosted by Swedish golfing greats Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam.
Austria's Christine Wolf held a share of the lead after day one before home favourite Caroline Hedwall put herself in pole position to become the European Tour's first female winner as she hit the front heading into the weekend.
Hewson then joined Hedwall at the summit after 54 holes and carded a 69 on Sunday to be the only player in the field to shoot in the 60s all four days.
And after birdies on the 13th, 14th, and 16th, she took the contest up the last, knowing that an eagle would have put her into a play-off with Jonathan Caldwell.
The Englishwoman parred the 18th for a finishing total of 15 under, and was left to reflect on a hugely successful week when she wrote her name into the history books.
"It was really exciting," she said. "Got off to a bit of a shaky start, was definitely nervous those first few holes but managed to get some momentum on the back nine.
"Just really excited with my performance this week especially after a very tough start to the season.
The only player in the entire field to shoot four rounds in the 60s. What a performance @aliceeehewson 👏#ScandinavianMixed pic.twitter.com/NKxmWcVOib
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) June 13, 2021
"It was great fun, it was nice to see my name work my way up the leaderboard for sure. It would have been nice to put that putt in on 17 and give myself a good chance on 18 but it is what it is and I still had really good fun.
"This has been an exceptional opportunity for women's golf as a whole. For us to be on this kind of stage and to prove to everyone how good women's golf actually is has been such a great opportunity.
"I've been so happy to be a part of it, really grateful to both Annika and Henrik for putting this on for us and just so happy to have been a part of this first one."
