Premium lager Kronenbourg 1664 will sponsor the £100,000 Chart Hills Classic
on the Ladies' European Tour at the Nick Faldo-designed Chart Hills Golf Club
in Kent from August 31-September 2.
The tournament, the 14th leg of the 2000 Evian Tour, will be called the
Kronenbourg 1664 Chart Hills Classic and is the last ranking tournament
before the European team is finalised for the Solheim Cup at Loch Lomond from
October 6-8.
In addition to taking over the title sponsorship, Kronenbourg 1664 will offer
a £16,640 prize for a hole-in-one on the spectacular 143-yard 17th hole
during the final round.
"The Evian Tour has been enjoying a resurgence over the past two seasons and
Kronenbourg 1664 is proud to extend its support for the women's game here in
Europe," said Kronenbourg brands director Maurice Breen.
"We have enjoyed a
prosperous relationship with women's golf through the Evian Masters for a
number of years now."
Heading the field will be former world No 1 Laura Davies, twice a winner in
America this season but yet to extend her record of winning at least once in
Europe for each of the past 15 seasons.
Other leading Britons include Trish Johnson, winner of the Ladies British
Masters earlier this month, and Alison Nicholas, the 1997 US Women's Open
champion, while a strong challenge can be expected from Sweden's Sophie
Gustafson, who last week won the Weetabix Women's British Open title at Royal
Birkdale - her third victory in Europe this season.
Two of the four
runners-up at Birkdale, England's Kirsty Taylor and Lotte
Neumann of Sweden, will also be at Chart Hills as will Swede Carin Koch,
winner of the Chrysler Open in Sweden earlier this season, and other Solheim
Cup hopefuls, including Scotland's Kathryn Marshall, Raquel Carriedo of
Spain, Belgium's Valerie Van Ryckeghem and French duo Patricia Meunier Lebouc
and Marine Monnet.
European captain Dale Reid will announce her 12-strong side, which will
comprise seven automatic qualifiers and five wild-card selections, at Chart
Hills after the final round on Saturday, September 2.
