[Photos: Mark Runnacles]
Carolina Chacarra collected her first professional victory on the Ladies European Tour at the Hulencourt Women’s Open. The 23-year-old from Spain shot a final-round 68 in Belgium to top Australia’s Kelsey Bennett by three shots.
It’s a huge victory for the rookie who has both LPGA and LET status. She now has qualified for the Women’s Scottish Open and the AIG Women’s Open.
“I was definitely nervous, especially the last three holes,” Chacarra said. “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.”
Carolina Chacarra’s winning moment 🏆#HulencourtWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/BTf8sU1kqq
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) July 5, 2026
It also meant that the Chacarra siblings have collected professional titles in consecutive weeks. Just seven days ago, Chacarra’s older brother Eugenio shot 65-64 on the weekend of the Italian Open on the DP World Tour to easily win by five shots. It was his fifth pro title, which includes one on LIV Golf, one on the Asian Tour and three in Europe.
“It’s been a great few weeks,” Carolina said. “Life is treating us amazing. 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.”
Golf Digest chronicled the brother-sister duo four years ago when both were in college – Eugenio at Oklahoma State and Carolina at Wake Forest. In that piece both had just won their first college titles within, get this, only three days of each other. Eugenio shot a final-round, 10-under 62 to win the Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii. Carolina then came along and also shot 10-under 62 to capture the UCF Challenge in Orlando.
“Every time one of us wins it pushes us when we have another tournament, and we try to emulate each other,” Eugenio told Golf Digest. “When I won the Campeonato de España 18-and-under division in 2018, two weeks later Carolina won the Campeonato de España 16-and-under. We have success when we see the other win.
“When we go to the course, we’re playing for something, whether it’s having to clean the clubs or drive the car home. We like putting some pressure on the line.”
While there was pressure for each during their respective Sunday runs the final margins for both were not particularly close.
Eugenio, 26, made five birdies and an eagle in Italy to shoot a bogey-free 64 and earn a five-shot victory over Matt Wallace, earning him a spot in the the Open Championship for the first time.
“I’ve dreamed of playing it, always,” he said. “I’ve watched Seve [Ballesteros] win British Opens. I’ve watched it on TV since I was little. Excited to be out there. It’s now time to celebrate and then we focus on that.”
Eugenio’s celebration now will probably reach into its second week after his sister’s three-shot win at the Hulencourt Women’s Open. Carolina trailed Bennett by two shots to start the day but slowly and quietly plodded her way through the round and made four birdies to shoot a bogey-free 68.
“The day went great and I’m so happy,” she 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.”
It’s not the last time we’ll be hearing from the Chacarras. And a reminder, the next time one of them wins, a victory for the other is probably not far behind.
