Kim Kuijsters - Sustained brilliance at BonArea explained
Up until 2025, Kim Kuijsters had never won an international open. Breaking that particular duck appeared on the cards when she produced a superb opening 36 holes of 97 at BonArea. And the Dutch lady duly delivered with a polished final round performance on Sunday to win by seven strokes. Below she discusses how it all came about.
Why did you choose to play on Friday at BonArea?
We arrived on Tuesday morning and because of our longer week and the location in Sitges – more than an hour drive – it fitted better into the schedule to play on Friday. This was my second time I played on the Catalan Open, last year I came 2nd, behind Esther de Schiffart
Tell us about that fantastic 11 under par score?
The 11 under after the first two rounds was, of course, great. These are my best rounds ever so far. I played with Marc Fortuny España who played really well, I also used that to get into my flow. I had a healthy tension in my body and my goal was to keep my score together. This worked well, without paying attention to my own total score. Focus was on playing hole by hole.
You must have been delighted not to be affected by the storm on Saturday?
The weekend was about extremes, we played in 26 degrees in temperature on Friday, while Saturday started with fog and much colder weather. Sure, it is annoying to have to play in a storm or rain, I have seen the videos, it was intense. And for safety, it is good that play continued on Sunday morning.
What aspects of your game pleased you most?
My chipping was rock solid, if I wasn't on the green I chipped, this kept me from making bogeys. I did miss some longer birdie putts.
Five strokes clear overnight, did you have any particular strategy for Sunday's final round?
With the score of -11, I was in an overall tied 11th place after the first 2 rounds, which made me focus more on the total classification. How cool is it to end up in the top 20 of the Catalan Open with more than 200 participants. It may sound strange, but I always do this in both Golf and Pitch & Putt. So my focus was not on the rest of the ladies. My strategy for Sunday was simple, keep score together, don't do anything crazy. Unfortunately, I made a 5 on hole 8 which took me from -2 to level for the day. Later I luckily made 2 birdies to still shoot two under par for the day.
Were you surprised that the principal challenges came from Ailish Sexton and Marta Cucurull rather than Esther de Schiffart?
I played with Ailish Sexton for the first time last year at the World Championships in Vigo, she put down three steady rounds which was also a very good performance. I met Marta Cucurull just before the round and also very good as witnessed by the beautiful round of 49 that she score. She didn't even realize at first that she had finished 3rd.
Esther de Schiffart was of course the biggest competitor, especially after last year and the World Championships in Vigo, but in the 3rd round she was suffering back problems again, she had this at the last competition in the Netherlands as well, which is of course not nice.
Are you finding it easy to combine playing Pitch and Putt and your role as Treasurer of PPBN?
We have now a completely new PPBN board this year, and I am the treasurer. I think it is a good combination, we take on the tasks in the board together and divide this so that we can also play freely in tournaments in the Netherlands.
What are your next ambitions in Pitch and Putt?
Plenty of Pitch & Putt ambitions for sure! In the Netherlands I am co-owner of the golf course in Dordrecht: Crayestein Golf (www.crayesteingolf.nl). Here we are also working on a 9-hole challenging Pitch & Putt course with 2 tees per hole. The great thing about Pitch & Putt is that it is accessible to everyone. Not only for beginners (which people in the Netherlands mainly assume) but also for average or good players. The community and of course the ambition to score. I also want to put Pitch & Putt more on the map with that. Furthermore, I want to defend my title next year in the Catalan Open. And maybe play some more international tournaments and who knows, maybe one day organize an international tournament on our course.
