Five city Tour for Asian Ladies

The Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) is about to embark on a tour of five Asian cities - Macau, Hong Kong, Bangkok, New Delhi and Shanghai - with well over half a million dollars at stake for lady professionals from around the world.

Macau Ladies Open, now gazetted as a National Open, will be the curtain raiser. Offering a prize purse of US$80,000, the 54-hole event beginning Jan 24 will be played at the scenic and challenging Macau Golf and Country Club. This will be followed a week later with the US$80,000 Hong Kong Ladies Masters at Discovery Bay Golf Club.

The Tour then moves on to Bangkok for the US$100,000 TAT Thailand Ladies Open from March 7-9 and then the US$100,000 DFL India Women's Open beginning March on 14. The season ends with the biggest tournament in the LAGT tour schedule with the US$230,000 Asia Miles-Binhai Ladies Open in Shanghai that will be played at the Binhai Golf Club from March 21-23.

The 2007 LAGT events offer in total about US$600,000 in prize money a 30% increase compared to the inaugural season in 2006.

Since most recognized Ladies' Tours US LPGA, Ladies European Tour, Japan LPGA Tour and Korean LPGA begins between late March and early April, the LAGT will provide the lady professionals especially from the US and Europe (which are experiencing winter) with a competitive platform in preparation for their respective Tours.

LAGT Chief Commissioner Koichi Kato is confident that the Ladies Asian Golf Tour will attract more high profile players.

"For women golfers who dream to be in the forefront in the world of professional golf, this is the time, and the place is LAGT," he said.

Kato said there's so much to explore and experience. "I know that LAGT has generated a lot of interest mainly from professional players from Europe and America when we held our first chapter last year.

"The response for participation in our second schedule (this year's Tour) has been very encouraging and to ensure a quality field, our priority is to players in the top 50 of the LAGT Order-of-Merit and to sanctioning parties like the China Golf Association and Korean LPGA," he said.

Sweden's Linda Wessberg was one of the Ladies European Tour players who competed in the inaugural season last year. It paid off for her as she went on to capture the Wales Open title last November. Other players like England's Kirsty Taylor also did well on the Ladies European Tour.

LAGT Chief Executive Aylwin Tai said if all the tournaments go on well with a top quality field we can truly make this a fantastic year for the Tour.

Said Aylwin: "The professional methodology used in organising and running our tournaments have prompted compliments not only from the players and sponsors, but also from the R & A, which has awarded financial support to assist the LAGT's Rules Committee."

He added that more and more sponsors have come forward to support the tournaments, citing India's corporate giant DLF, Asia Miles and Binhai Golf Club, CTM and the Tourism Authority of Thailand who will be the title sponsors in India, China, Macau, and Thailand respectively.

"We want the players to play with us and not play for us as we want them to feel comfortable playing in our Tour," Aylwin said.

Meanwhile, Ms. Rae-Vadee T. Suwan, LAGT's President, announced that she has received confirmation from Korea Golf Association to extend an invitation to the winner of the LAGT Order-of-Merit this year to play in the 2007 Korea Women's Open.

"This should be an added bonus and a good incentive to participants on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour as the event offers high prize money," she said.

Over and above this, the winner of the US$230,000 Asia Miles-Binhai Ladies Open in March will be granted a two-year (07, 08) exemption to play on the KLPGA Tour.

2007 Tour Schedule

Jan 24-26 : Macau Ladies Open (US$80,000)
Jan 31-Feb 2 : Hong Kong Ladies Masters (US$80,000)
March 7-9 : TAT Thailand Ladies Open (US$100,000)
March 14-16 : DLF India Women's Open (US$100,000)
March 21-23 : Asia Miles-Binhai Ladies Open (US230,000)

January 11, 2007

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