AIB Irish Open back on Ladies Tour
Record prize money of £8.8m (€12.2m) will be on offer on the 2008 Ladies European Tour, it was announced today.
An unprecedented 28 tournaments will include the return of the AIB Irish Open after a four-year absence and four new Tour stops – the European Cup in Spain, Turkish Open, Hypovereinsbank German Open and Gothenburg Masters.
“The 2007 season has been a huge success – with the Solheim Cup in Sweden and new events in Australia, Scotland, Madrid, India and Northern Ireland,” said executive director Alexandra Armas.
“In 2008 we continue to build our schedule.”
The inaugural European Ladies Golf Cup at La Sella in Alicante on April 4-6 will have a purse of £215,000 (€297,000) and will feature 24 teams of two players from qualifying countries based on this year’s money list and the world rankings.
Once again the season will start with the Womens World Cup of Golf in Sun City, South Africa, on January 18-20 and end with the Dubai Ladies Masters at the Emirates Club on December 11-14.
Schedule:
January 18-20 World Cup of Golf, Sun City, South Africa (£705,000)
31-3 MFS Australian Open, Kingston Heath, Melbourne (£215,000)
February 7-10 ANZ Masters, Royal Pines, Queensland (£258,000)
April 4-6 European Cup, La Sella, Alicante, Spain (£215,000)
17-20 Spanish Open, Panoramica, Castellon, Spain (£197,000)
May 2-4 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, Cameron House, Loch Lomond (£144,000)
8-11 Turkish Open, National Club, Antalya (£180,000)
22-25 Deutsche Bank Swiss Open, Gerre Losone, Ticino (£378,000)
29-1 Hypovereinsbank German Open presented by Audi, Gut Hdusern, Munich (£180,000)
June 6-8 KLM Open, Eidhovensche, Valkenswaard, Holland (£180,000)
12-15 Portugal Open, venue to be announced (£144,000)
19-22 Tenerife Open, venue tba (£215,000)
July 4-6 The Oxfordshire English Open, The Oxfordshire, Thame (£119,000)
10-13 AIB Irish Open, venue tba (£324,000)
17-20 BMW Italian Open, venue tba (£288,000)
24-27 Evian Masters, Evian-Les-Bains, France (£1,500,000)
31-3 Ricoh Women’s British Open, Sunningdale, Berkshire (£1,050,000)
August 7-10 Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika, Frvseker, Vdsteres, Sweden (£378,000)
14-17 S4C Wales Championship of Europe, Machynys Peninsula, Carmarthenshire, Wales (£350,000)
22-24 SAS Masters, Haga, Oslo, Norway (£144,000)
29-31 Finnair Masters, Helsinki, Finland (£144,000)
September 5-7 Denmark, to be announced (£144,000)
11-14 UNIQA Open presented by Raiffeisen, Fvhrenwald, Wiener Neustadt, Austria (£180,000)
18-21 Gothenburg Masters, Lycke, Sweden (£180,000)
25-28 Vediorbis French Open, Golf d’Arras, Nord-Pas de Calais (£252,000)
To be confirmed Madrid Masters (£288,000)
December 3-6 EMAAR-MGF Masters, Eagleton, Bidadi, India (£144,000)
11-14 Dubai Masters, Emirates Club, Dubai (£360,000)
