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2020 Ladies European Tour schedule released

The Ladies European Tour released its 2020 schedule Friday.

Talk about an instant turnaround. The Ladies European Tour schedule is out, and it’s a massive step in the right direction. There are seven new events on the docket for 2020, including 15 in Europe. Overall prize money is up $4.96 million (4.5 million euros) to $19.8 million (18 million euros).

Anne van Dam now serves as an ambassador for the new Dutch Ladies Open, played at her home course, Rosendealsche Golf Club, in Arnhem.

There are two new tournaments in Sweden, including the $1.65 million (€1.5 million) Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika and the Creekhouse Ladies Open. The tour also returns to Switzerland with the new VP Bank Ladies Swiss Open next September.

The previously announced Saudi Ladies Championship offers a $1 million purse.

The season ends with the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España Femenino in November, an event that doubled its prize fund to $661,917 (€600,000). It also marks the end of the Race to Costa del Sol, a season-long competition offering $275,798 (€275,000) between the top three finishers on the official ranking.

“It’s important to have an event in your country to help develop the game and inspire the next generation,” said van Dam, “just as I was inspired when I was able to watch and then play in the Dutch Ladies Open when I was young. The 2020 schedule is looking really strong and I’m so pleased to have an event in the Netherlands.”

Late last year, LET players voted almost unanimously to combine efforts with the LPGA. The new LPGA-LET Joint Venture board includes: includes six directors from the LET (Marta Figueras-Dotti, Eleanor Givens, Catriona Matthew, Liz Young, Justin Abbott and Alastair Ruxton), four Directors from the LPGA (Commissioner Mike Whan, Liz Moore, Kathy Milthorpe and Mike Nichols), one from The R&A (Chief Executive Martin Slumbers) and one from the European Tour (Chief Executive Keith Pelley).

Left to right: European Tour executive director Keith Pelley, LET chair Marta Figueras-Dotti, LET CEO Alexandra Armas, European Solheim Cup Captain Catriona Matthew and LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan at the LET’s headquarters at Buckinghamshire Golf Club in England. (Ladies European Tour)

“The LET and the LPGA only began working together in September 2019, but we’ve been blown away with the results in the first 90 days and the positive response from across the golf industry,” LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said in a statement. “With overall purse increases and seven new events, our athletes will have more opportunities for success. It’s exciting to think what we can accomplish after a full year of working with our new Board. We have a long way to go, but I’m so happy to say that this is the best position that European women’s professional golf has ever been in.”

Matthew, the 2019 and 2021 European Solheim Cup captain, has committed to compete on the LET this season. The LPGA veteran and Women’s British Open winner lives with her husband and two daughters in Scotland.

“This is a tour that existing players and those joining for the first time should be proud to be part of,” said Matthew. “I’ll be keeping an eye on some of the exciting young players coming through as we look ahead to retaining the Solheim Cup in Toledo next year.”

2020 LET Schedule

*subject to currency exchange rates

Date	Title/Location	Euro/USD prize fund
Feb. 20-23	Australian Ladies Classic Bonville, Bonville Golf Resort, Bonville, New South Wales, Australia	€240,000*/$264,766.80
Feb. 27 – March 1	Women’s New South Wales Open, Dubbo Golf Club, New South Wales, Australia	€210,000*/$231,670.95
March 12-14	Investec South African Women’s Open, Westlake Golf Club, Cape Town, South Africa	€200,000*/$220,639
March 19-22	The Saudi Ladies Championship, Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia	€901,000*/$1,000,000
May 7-9	Jabra Ladies Open, Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France	€200,000/$220,639
May 14-17	La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational, La Reserva Club de Sotogrande, Sotogrande, Spain	€300,000/$330,958.50
May 29-31	The Mithra Belgian Ladies Open, Naxhelet, Wanxe, Belgium	€200,000/$220,639
June 4-7	Lalla Meryem Cup, Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (Blue Course), Rabat, Morocco	€450,000/$496,437.75
June 11-14	Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika, Bro Hoff Slott Golf Club (Stadium Course), Stockholm, Sweden	€1,500,000/$1,654,792.50
July 2-5	Dutch Ladies Open, Rosendealsche Golf Club, Arnhem, the Netherlands	€200,000/$220,639
July 16-19	Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open, Club de Golf Terramar, Sitges, Spain	€300,000/$330,958.50
July 23-26	Evian Championship, Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France	€3,700,000*/$4,100,000
Aug. 5-8	Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Kasumigaseki Country Club (East Course), Saitama, Japan	N/A
Aug. 6-9	UK Event Confirmed	€991,500*/$1,100,000
Aug. 13-16	Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland	€1,352,000/$1,500,000
Aug. 20-23	AIG Women’s British Open, Royal Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland	€4,055,000*/$4,500,000
Aug. 28-30	TIPSPORT Czech Ladies Open, Golf Course Karlstejn, Liten, Czech Republic	€200,000/$220,639
Sept. 3-6	Creekhouse Ladies Open, Kristianstads Golfklubb (Åhus Östra Course), Åhus, Sweden	€400,000/$441,278
Sept. 10-12	VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open, Golfpark Holzhäusern, Ennetsee, Switzerland	€200,000/$220,639
Sept. 17-20	Lacoste Ladies Open de France, Golf du Médoc (Chateaux Course), Le Pian-Médoc, France	€325,000/$358,538.38
Sept. 24-27	Ladies European Thailand Championship, Phoenix Gold Golf & Country Club, Thailand	€300,000/$330,958.50
Oct. 1-4	Hero Women’s Indian Open, DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, India	€450,000*/$500,000
Nov. 4-6	Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic, Emirates Golf Club (Faldo Course), Dubai, United Arab Emirates	€260,000/$286,830.70
Nov. 12-15	Event Confirmed	€300,000/$330,958.50
Nov. 26-29	Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España Femenino, location TBC, Spain	€600,000/$661,917

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Alexandra Armas named Ladies European Tour CEO

Alexandra Armas is no longer the Acting CEO of the Ladies European Tour, but permanent CEO.

Acting CEO of the Ladies European Tour (LET) Alexandra Armas has been named permanent CEO, it was announced Monday.

The search for a new CEO began in September when former CEO Mark Lichtenhein stepped down from the position. Armas was named Acting CEO in October. From 2008-2012, Armas also served as LET Executive Director.

Armas will report to the LPGA-LET Joint Venture Board of Directors, chaired by LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. Armas becomes permanent CEO shortly after the newly-formed LPGA-LET joint venture earned the official support of the R&A and European Tour earlier this month and LET players voted in favor of the joint venture in November.

“I am incredibly excited to be given the opportunity to lead the Ladies European Tour at what is a real turning point for women’s golf and professional sport,” Armas said in a statement. “The vision for the LPGA-LET partnership is a completely new project and I believe strongly that we are heading in the right direction to take the LET to greater heights. I look forward to working on the evolution of the business to grow the opportunities for LET members.”

Armas, who played college golf and earned a master’s degree in Business during her time at Wake Forest, also has experience as a player on the LET. She played on the tour from 2001-2005.

Armas has used the past three months as Acting CEO to work alongside the board and build the 2020 LPGA-LET schedule which will be announced Friday.

“Every great team needs a great leader and we are lucky to have Alexandra, who has the experience, passion and relationships necessary to quickly rebuild the LET schedule and brand,” Whan said in a statement. “From working with Alexandra during her previous stint at the LET and since she re-joined the team in October, I am incredibly impressed with her ability to deal with our various stakeholders and partners with grace and skill.

“As Acting CEO of the new LET, she has already proven herself and our Board believes that she is the right person to manage our business long-term and drive strong growth in the years ahead as the permanent leader of this Joint Venture.”

Ladies European Tour announces new event in Saudi Arabia, where women face multiple barriers

The new LET event was met with optimism by player ambassador Carly Booth, despite the barriers placed on Saudi women.

The Ladies European Tour has announced a new event for 2020 in Saudi Arabia. The 72-hole event will mark the first professional female golf tournament held in Saudi Arabia. The event, held March 19-22, will feature a $1 million purse, among the highest prize funds on the LET.

The field of 108 professionals will compete at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, near Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast. The event will be staged in collaboration with Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation.

Phil Mickelson was the latest PGA Tour player to come under fire for his decision to skip the Waste Management Phoenix Open to play in the European Tour’s Saudi International. In the run-up to last year’s inaugural Saudi men’s event, several players drew criticism for committing to play — and receiving appearance fees for it — in the wake of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

Saudi Arabia remains one of the most gender-segregated countries in the world, however, some of the country’s strict laws have recently come under reform. According to a Reuters report this month, restaurants will no longer require separate entrances for women and families and one solely for men. Last year the Saudi government lifted a ban on women applying for licenses and driving.

Despite the barriers placed on Saudi women in every day life, Thursday’s news of the LET event was met with optimism by player ambassador Carly Booth, who views the event as a way to grow the game among women.

Amy Boulden, Rachel Drummond, Camilla Lennarth and Isabella Deiler are also ambassadors.

“I’m looking forward to being part of history with the other ladies on the tour and of course to competing over the Royal Greens course,” said Booth in a statement. “I have visited Saudi Arabia on a number of occasions and been lucky enough to spend some time teaching local women and girls how to play; they have been so enthusiastic and I am sure that seeing professional golfers compete in their country will inspire them to take up the game and strive for their dreams.”

The LET recently voted to partner with the LPGA to help boost the presence of women’s golf in Europe. The tour has struggled mightily in recent years to put together a schedule that gives players a full-time place to compete.

In 2008 the LET had 28 tournaments. In 2017 it dropped to 15 events. This year’s schedule included 20 tournaments, but three of those were jointly sanctioned by the LPGA: AIG Women’s British Open, Evian Championship, Ladies Scottish Open.

The LET played for almost $15 million this season, though roughly $10 million came from those three co-sanctioned tournaments.

The LPGA competed for $70.2 million in 2019.

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Long-hitting Anne van Dam defends Ladies Spanish Open title in a comeback

It was an impressive display of golf in the final round, particularly because Anne Van Dam had to overtake Nanna Koerstz Madsen to win

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Anne van Dam might have the most coveted swing in women’s professional golf. The Dutch player crushes it off the tee – she was the longest hitter on both the LET and the LPGA in 2019 – and the European Solheim Cupper has continued to pad her win column. Van Dam defended her title Sunday at the Ladies European Tour’s Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España. It’s her fifth title on that tour.

It was an impressive display of golf in the final round, particularly because van Dam had to overtake her Danish friend Nanna Koerstz Madsen to win her second title in this event. Interestingly, even Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez made an appearance in the gallery for the final round.

Madsen had a three-shot lead after three rounds at Aloha Golf Club in Marbella, Spain. She holed out for eagle at the par-4 ninth and was still two shots ahead at the start of the back nine. She was down to a one-shot lead on the 18th tee.

Andalucia Open de Espana: Leaderboard

Madsen made a double-bogey there after dumping her drive left in the water. It was her third double-bogey in a final-round 74.

Van Dam played to her length and placed her tee shot in the middle of the fairway with a 4-iron. She won with a seemingly easy par for a final-round 70 and a 13-under total. She said she didn’t expect to see Madsen’s final hole unfold the way it did.

“Nanna is a good friend of mine so I would have loved to beat her in a playoff, it would have been a better feeling for me,” van Dam told the Golf Channel. “That’s what it is. It’s golf, she took more risk off the tee hitting a driver. I’ve been hitting an iron there all week.”

Madsen tied for second with Aditi Ashok at 12 under.

Van Dam is the second player recent history to win back-to-back Spanish Open titles. Spaniard Azahara Munoz did it in 2016 and 2017.

The Ladies European Tour wraps up its regular season this week at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open, a new event on the schedule.

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LET players vote to partner with the LPGA

The LPGA’s Mike Whan laid out details to unite the LPGA with the struggling European tour and players voted in overwhelming favor.

At the Ladies European Tour’s player meeting on Tuesday in Spain, Mike Whan laid out the details of a plan that would unite the LPGA with the struggling European tour.

Players voted in overwhelming favor of the 50-50 proposal.

Spain’s Azahara Munoz, who keeps up membership on both the LPGA and LET, said it almost sounded too good to be true.

“(Players) literally couldn’t believe how good everything Mike was telling us,” said Munoz. “Pretty much there nothing to lose from us. Nothing.”

Whan told the LPGA board that he believed it was the tour’s responsibility to help boost the tour in Europe. While there likely won’t be an immediate pathway to the LPGA in terms of automatic cards like the Symetra Tour, he sees that day coming. The initial move would provide access to LPGA Q-Series.

“Two teams, joining for one common purpose, will create opportunities we simply could not have pursued on our own,” said LET Board Chair Marta Figueras-Dotti in a statement. “At its foundation, this joint venture is about creating opportunities for our members to pursue their passion, and their careers as professional athletes. In just the 60 days since we began working on this joint venture, we have already seen a dramatic impact on our LET Tour schedule – an impact that will be a positive result for virtually all of our LET Members.”

Earlier today it was announced that the tournament prize fund for the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana would double for 2020 from €300,000 to €600,000.

In addition, the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit will be renamed the ‘Race to Costa del Sol’, with an additional bonus pool of €250,000, split between the top three finishers.

“I want to make sure the European Tour players know that this is not some American growth strategy,” the LPGA commissioner said last week at the CME Group Tour Championship. “I’m not expecting to make money at the LET.”

Munoz competes primarily on the LPGA, but said she wanted to see European players have more opportunities.

“When I go back to Europe and play, you can tell that they haven’t been competing,” said Munoz. “Some of them have a second job. it’s so hard to compete at a high level not playing.”

In 2008 the LET had 28 tournaments. In 2017 it dropped to 15 events.

This year’s schedule includes 20 tournaments, but three of those are jointly sanctioned by the LPGA: AIG Women’s British Open, Evian Championship, Ladies Scottish Open. They’ll play for almost $15 million this season, though roughly $10 million comes from those three co-sanctioned tournaments. The LPGA competed for $70.2 million this season.

“I think by coming together and providing some pathway to the LPGA … we engage country federations throughout Europe who have money to spend on women’s sport,” said Whan, “but they need a – they need to make sure that that path can lead to Olympic athletes and people that can live on the top of the Rolex world rankings. And they know that path to the LPGA is required to do that.”

Whan compared the LET’s current state with how the LPGA looked in 2009 before he came on board.

“The majority of the tour is very grateful for this offer, that’s for sure,” said Beth Allen, an American who 2016 Player of the Year title in Europe and continues to compete there full time.

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