The 2011 Ladies European Tour international schedule, announced today, will launch from February 3-6 with the Women’s Australian Open in Melbourne and will conclude with the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters in the Middle East.
The schedule includes the new Prague Golf Masters in the Czech Republic from September 8-11 and The Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle in Ireland from September 23-25.
The initial sector will begin with three tournaments co-sanctioned with Australian Ladies Professional Golf in Australasia followed by the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco where prize money will increase to €325,000.
The fourth Comunitat Valenciana European Nations Cup, featuring teams from a number of nations, will be played at La Sella Golf Resort in Alicante, Spain from April 14-17 ahead of the Turkish Ladies Open, the UniCredit Ladies German Open presented by Audi, Ladies Slovak Open, ABN AMRO Ladies Open.
The Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, which is a player favourite on the schedule, continues as the third largest tournament on the Ladies European Tour with a prize fund of €525,000. The carbon neutral event will take place at Golf Gerre Losone in Ticino from June 16-19. Last year, Lee-Anne Pace captured the first of her five titles at the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, starting a wonderful season which culminated with her winning the Henderson Money List.
The summer season will continue with the Ladies Open of Portugal, Finnair Masters, Tenerife Ladies Open and Evian Masters presented by Societe Generale in France.
The Ricoh Women’s British Open, which is the final major championship of the year, will be played over the famous links course at Carnoustie for the first time from July 28-31.
The following week’s AIB Ladies Irish Open at Killeen Castle will provide a dress rehearsal for The Solheim Cup, taking place seven weeks later at the same venue.
The second Aberdeen Ladies Scottish Open presented by EventScotland will be played ahead of the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen in Austria.
The inaugural Prague Golf Masters, to be played at Prague City Golf Club, will feature an initial prize fund of €350,000 and will be a full field event of 126 players with a halfway cut to the leading 60 and ties after 36 holes.
The Open de Espana Femenino will be the last event before The Solheim Cup while the Open de France Féminin will return to Paris International Golf Club the week after the biennial team match play tournament.
The second edition of the Sanya Ladies Open in Hainan, China, launches a three week swing through Asia taking in the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in Suzhou, China – with increased prize money of €300,000 – and the Hero Honda Women’s Indian Open near New Delhi.
Emirates Golf Club will host the Ladies European Tour’s season-ending Omega Dubai Ladies Masters for the sixth time. New venues for 2011 will include those hosting the Lalla Meryem Cup (Soleil Golf Course in Agadir), the Ricoh Women’s British Open (Carnoustie Golf Club, Carnoustie) and the Prague Golf Masters (Prague City Golf Club).
With the 2011 schedule featuring 26 tournaments in 19 different destinations, Alexandra Armas, Executive Director of the Ladies European Tour, commented: “We are pleased to be able to offer our members a full schedule of playing opportunities. In the challenging economic climate, we have consolidated our position and would like to thank our superb partners and sponsors for their continued commitment.
“The quality of play is improving every year and clearly the LET membership benefits from its geographical and cultural diversity. We have seen a number of international winners emerge and the standard of golf has been truly inspiring therefore we remain positive that we will be able to further develop the schedule and are still working on adding several new events next year.”
Ladies European Tour www.ladieseuropeantour.com