England’s Trish Johnson will return to action

France will have a strong team, represented by four-time LET tournament champion Stephanie Arricau and three-time winner Ludivine Kreutz, who was a member of the European Solheim Cup Team in 2005. Germany is represented by last year’s Madrid Ladies Masters champion Martina Eberl and Anja Monke, who has finished second twice on the LET. Meanwhile Italy will also have a strong team in two-time French Open winner Veronica Zorzi and Stefania Croce, the 1992 Ford Classic champion.
Australia and the USA are the two invited teams in the 20 nation event. Australia will be represented by the 2007 Wales Ladies Champion Joanne Mills and seven-time LET tournament winner Karen Lunn, who was the 1993 Women’s British Open champion.
Laura Terebey and Kris Lindstrom will represent the USA. Terebey’s best finish in two years on the LET was a tie for 9th at the 2007 KLM Ladies Open, while Lindstrom’s best finish in three seasons was joint third at the 2006 Finnair Masters in Finland.
The €300,000 VCI (Valencian Community Investments) Ladies European Cup will be televised nightly on Golf Night on Sky Sports in the UK as well as on a number of other channels throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
The competition will feature Better-ball on days one and three, with a new format called the “Valencian Cup” played on days two and four.
The new format is a variation on the Greensome Chapman System and was created by the event promoter Deporte&Business with the input of Spanish golf professional Marta Figueras-Dotti.
In the normal Greensome Chapman System, both players tee off and then they switch balls. Player A plays Player B’s drive and vice versa. Usually, they would select the best second shot on every hole, and from that point until the ball is holed they would play one golf ball in alternate shot format.
The difference with the “Valencian Cup” system is that this system only applies to the par fours.
For the par threes, alternative shots are played after the drives. For the par fives, players will hit three shots each, switching balls each time, and will then select the best third shot before playing alternative shots with the same ball for the remainder of the hole.
Final Teams 2008:
Category 1 – Host Country
1 Spain
1. Paula Marti
2. Tania Elosegui
Category 2 – Defending Champions
[Irrelevant this year]
Category 3 – WGWR top 100 or LET 2007 final Money List top 100
1 Norway
1. Lill Kristen Saether
2. Cecilie Lundgreen
2 Sweden
1. Lotta Wahlin
2. Johanna Westerberg
3 Scotland
1. Clare Queen
2. Lynn Kenny
4 England
1. Trish Johnson
2. Rebecca Hudson
5 France
1. Stephanie Arricau
2. Ludivine Kreutz
6 Wales
1. Eleanor Pilgrim
2. Lydia Hall
7 Germany
1. Martina Eberl
2. Anja Monke
8 Denmark
1. Iben Tinning
2. Lisa Holm Sorensen
9 Italy
1. Veronica Zorzi
2. Stefania Croce
10 Ireland
1. Rebecca Coakley
2. Martina Gillen
11 Finland
1. Ursula Wikstrom
2. Kaisa Ruuttila
12 Belgium
1. Lara Tadiotto
2. Ellen Smets
13 Austria
1. Eva Steinberger
2. Nicole Gergely
14 Netherlands
1. Marjet van der Graaf
2. Marieke Nivard (Am)
Category 4 – Invitations
1 Australia
1. Joanne Mills
2. Karen Lunn
2 USA
1. Laura Terebey
2. Kris Lindstrom
Category 5 – LET 2007 Money List positions 101 onwards
1 Switzerland
1. Frederique Seeholzer
2. Nora Angehrn
2 Russia
1. Anastasia Kostina
2. Maria Kostina
3 Slovakia
1. Zuzana Kamasova
2. Lujza Bubanova (Am)