(Cheshire, England – Wednesday November 30 2005) – The Robe di Kappa Ladies European Tour’s Executive Director Alexandra Armas today announced the 2006 LET schedule, featuring 19 events on three continents and with a prize fund of over €9 million.
Following a phenomenally successful year for women’s golf on a global scale, Armas also unveiled plans for the Tour’s future development. “I am delighted to present such a healthy and diverse schedule for next year at such an early stage in the calendar,” said Armas.
“We are tremendously excited about all of the events planned for 2006 and we look forward to revealing more details as prospective partners join the Tour over the coming months.”
The 2006 Ladies European Tour schedule boasts eight new host venues and six events featuring prize funds in excess of €500,000. It will also feature a brand new event, the €500,000 Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, which will be staged at the stunning venue of Golf Gerre Losone at the foothills of the Swiss Alps.
“It has been our intention to establish a core series of events in mainland Europe and now that we have fulfilled that goal, we will be focusing on developing our commercial and marketing strategy,” added Armas.
“This includes launching a fresh new brand at the beginning of next year, which will align the image of the LET with its core values.
“There is currently a huge amount of interest in staging a Ladies European Tour event from new countries ranging from Poland to Malta and we will continue to build the number of playing opportunities for our members as the season progresses.”
A number of innovative sponsorship initiatives offering additional financial incentives to members of the LET are soon to be announced and in addition, the season will bring the second edition of the Volvo Cross Country Challenge, a dedicated order of merit with an additional prize fund for events played within the Nordic region and a Volvo car for the winner.
Armas added: “Whilst we currently have a total prize fund that exceeds €9 million, I feel confident that the figure will have been greatly increased by the close of 2006.”
The next season will get underway in spectacular fashion with the second instalment of the Women’s World Cup of Golf at the Gary Player Country Club, Sun City Resort, South Africa, from January 20th-22nd.
The Tour then continues on to Australia for the $Aus800,000 ANZ Ladies Masters on Queensland’s Gold Coast from February 2nd-5th before moving north to contest the stable of events in mainland Europe.
Highlights from the 2006 LET schedule as it stands:
A total of 19 events;
The richest ever total prize fund exceeding €9 million;
Eight new host venues added to the 2006 schedule – Gary Player Country Club at Sun City Resort (Women’s World Cup of Golf ); Abama Golf (Tenerife Ladies Open ); Royal Golf Gerre Losone (Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open); Eindhovensche Golf (KLM Ladies Open); Quinta da Marinha Golf Club (Estoril Ladies Open of Portugal), Lytham and St. Anne’s Golf Club (Weetabix Women’s British Open); Bro-Balsta Golf Club (The Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika); Odense Eventyr Golf Klub (Nykredit Masters);
Six events featuring prize funds in excess of €500,000;
A return to Switzerland for the first time since 1997 when the legendary Marie-Laure de Lorenzi from France emerged victorious at the Déesse Ladies Swiss Open at Golf Club de Lausanne beside Lac Leman. The €500,000 Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open will take place at Golf Gerre Losone in the first year of a four-year agreement.
The BMW Ladies Italian Open raising the purse by €100,000 to €400,000;
Vediorbis Open de France increasing its prize money by €25,000 to €325,000;
The Women’s World Cup of Golf being moved from Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Estate to the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City;
The Tenerife Ladies Open being moved from Costa Adeje to Abama Golf;
The KLM Ladies Open being moved to Eindhovensche Golf in Valkenswaard;
The Estoril Ladies Open of Portugal being played at the Robert Trent Jones designed Quinta da Marinha Golf Club, Cascais, Estoril.
The Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika being moved to Bro-Balsta Golf Club;
The Nykredit Masters being moved to Odense Eventyr Golf Klub, Odense, Denmark;
The continuation of the Volvo Cross Country Challenge, which features an additional purse of €100,000
