The Ladies European Tour (LET) has adopted a
more global approach in a bid to increase the playing and earning
opportunities for its growing membership, and today released a schedule for
the 2001 Evian Tour that includes three tournaments in the Southern
Hemisphere and one in Asia.
The new-look schedule for next season consists of 20 events spread across 14
countries, with a minimum £5 million up for grabs. This represents four more
tournaments than this year and an increase of nearly £2 million in the
overall prize fund.
With the LET building on Europe's thrilling triumph in The Solheim Cup last
October, the 2001 schedule includes new joint-sanctioned tournaments in New
Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Taiwan, while closer to home, Antalya
in Turkey will be the first European stop on the 2001 circuit.
Next season's Evian Tour will also include two new events in Scotland - an
International Matchplay and the Ladies Scottish Open - and Royal Porthcawl
GC in South Wales will be the venue for the re-launched WPGA Championship of
Europe.
Speaking at a press conference in London, LET Chief Executive Tim Howland
said the 2001 schedule reflects the growing appeal of women's professional
golf across the world
"We are delighted with the progress that we have made with next season's
Evian Tour, and feel that the 2001 schedule offers tangible proof that the
LET is moving in the right direction," said Howland.
"Europe's victory in The Solheim Cup has definitely given the Tour added
impetus. The women's game in Europe is currently enjoying greater interest
from the commercial market place and from a variety of promoters across the
world.
"When we took over management of the Tour at the tail-end of 1998, our
two-year plan was to build a schedule consisting of at least 20 events with
a minimum £4.5 million in prize money. We have exceeded those targets and
our goal now is to help develop these tournaments and continue to build the
prize money."
Howland added that the LET had followed the example set down by the men's
European Tour by taking advantage of opportunities outside the traditional
European boundaries.
"At certain times of the year, the climate restricts events from being held
in Europe so the natural progression was to start looking for opportunities
further afield," said Howland.
"The men's European Tour enjoys a very successful series of tournaments
outside Europe at the start of its season, and this is something we are
looking to develop in the future. We see Asia-Pacific as a potential growth
market and will continue to develop strong relationships with promoters in
this region."
Last season, the Evian Tour made its maiden visit to Australia for the AAMI
Women's Australian Open. Added to this in 2001 will be the £200,000
Australian Ladies Masters, which represents another joint-sanctioned event
with the Australian LPGA, while the Cloud 9 Women's Classic represents the
first leg of the Tour and the LET's first visit to New Zealand.
From Australia the Tour will move on to Taiwan, before returning to the
Southern Hemisphere for the £100,000 Nedbank MasterCard SA Masters in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
The WPGA Championship of Europe, re-launched as part of Wales' bid to stage
the 2009 Ryder Cup, slots into the week before the Weetabix Women's British
Open.
With £400,000 on offer, it becomes the third most lucrative event on Tour.
The WPGA Championship was last staged in 1999 before its future was thrown
into doubt when McDonald's withdrew its sponsorship.
"The WPGA Champs has traditionally been one of our strongest events," added
Howland, "and we are indebted to Royal Porthcawl and the Welsh Ryder Cup bid
for helping us to re-launch it with the PGA.
"Royal Porthcawl is a terrific links course, and with the event coming the
week before the Weetabix we can expect to see some of the finest players
from across the world in South Wales."
Other major developments include the Evian Masters raising its prize money
to a record £1.4 million, whilst the Weetabix Women's British Open has also
increased its prize fund to £1 million. Both tournaments will be
joint-sanctioned with the LPGA
.
"I would like to thank Evian once again for its generous support and the
loyalty it has shown the Tour, and also for building the Evian Masters into
such a distinguished event," added Howland.
"T
he Evian is a unique in the world of golf and I applaud the vision they
have shown in positioning it as the women's equivalent of the Augusta
Masters."
The 2001 season will come to a close with the second Ladies World Cup of
Golf.
The LET hopes to announce the venue and sponsor early in the new year.
There is also a strong possibility that the Middle East will host at least
one tournament towards the end of the season.
