Left to right: Keith Pelley, Marta Figueras-Dotti, LET CEO Alexandra Armas, Catriona Matthew and LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, at Buckinghamshire Golf Club, which unveiled the significant jump in prize money for 2020. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

A NEW decade brings a new-look Ladies European Tour and for the first time in history, LET members will play for a combined prize money fund of almost €18 million in 2020.

That’s an increase in prize money of around a third – up €4.5 million on 2019, with the 2020 schedule featuring 24 tournaments, which is four more than last year.

They include 15 in Europe, in addition to August’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, plus a new event in England in August, which will be announced separately.

The Race to Costa del Sol, offering €250,000 in prize money between the top three finishers on the official ranking, will commence with the Australian Ladies Classic Bonville, in February.

It will conclude with the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España Femenino in November, the latter having doubled its prize money to €600,000.

The 2020 LET schedule includes two new events in Sweden – the €1.5million Scandinavian Mixed hosted by Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam and the Creekhouse Ladies Open.

There is also a new $1million event in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Ladies Championship, as well as the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open, the Dutch Ladies Open and the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.

The 15 events in Europe also include the Jabra Ladies Open, La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational, Estrella Damm Mediterranean Ladies Open, the Evian Championship, Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, AIG Women’s British Open, TIPSPORT Czech Ladies Open and Lacoste Ladies Open de France, as well as the new UK event.

The significantly improved schedule demonstrates the immediate success of the new LPGA-LET joint venture, with a new board of directors working together to grow the opportunities for LET members, especially in the continent of Europe.

Chaired by LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, the new joint venture board includes six directors from the LET, who met at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club for the historic announcement on Friday.

The six LET directors are Marta Figueras-Dotti, Eleanor Givens, Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew, Liz Young, Justin Abbott and Alastair Ruxton.

There are also four directors from the LPGA – commissioner Mike Whan, Liz Moore, Kathy Milthorpe and Mike Nichols – as well as The R&A’s chief executive Martin Slumbers and the European Tour’s chief executive Keith Pelley.

Whan said: “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.

“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.”

The LET’s new chief executive Alexandra Armas was given the job having been in charge since September when outgoing-boss Mark Lichtenhein departed.

Armas said: “I want to thank all the federations who have shown their belief in our new team and vision – but also recognise the important contribution of our existing event promoters and sponsors, whose long-term support and commitment is immensely valuable to our organisation.

“What we have achieved in the last 90 days in incredible and this is just the start of a new direction for the LET.”

Solheim captain hails exciting LET future

VICTORIOUS 2019 Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew believes the LET will hit new heights in 2020.

Matthew said: “I committed myself to playing on the LET in Europe last year and I couldn’t be more excited about what’s been achieved over the last 90 days to improve the schedule.

“This is a tour that existing players and those joining for the first time should be proud to be part of.

“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.”

Solheim Cup player Anne van Dam is happy to be involved as an ambassador for the new Dutch Ladies Open, which will be played at her home course, Rosendealsche Golf Club, in Arnhem.

Van Dam said: “It’s important to have an event in your country to help develop the game and inspire the next generation – 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.”

Jeroen Stevens, director of the Netherlands Golf Federation, said the organisation was proud to have a new LET event, with van Dam as its ambassador.

“The LPGA commitment toward the LET was what the NGF Board needed to commit to signing a three-year contract with the LET, to promote ladies’ golf in the Netherlands,” he said.

“We strongly believe it is essential to have more female golfers, to grow the game of golf in our country.

“We are therefore convinced we will prove in the coming years that investing in women’s golf is not only logical, from a diversity point of view, but also from the commercial perspective.

“We thank the LET and LPGA for giving us the opportunity to prove that golf is a sport for women, men and children of all ages.”

With two new tournaments in Sweden, rising star Julia Engström is looking forward to playing on home soil.

Engström said: “This is my third year on Tour and I’m very excited to have the opportunity to play in my home country for the first time since turning professional.

“The last time I played an LET event in Sweden was when I was 13 years old and I remember it to be the greatest thing in my career.

“I had so much support on the course from all the fans. It’s very exciting to have two new Swedish events, both completely different concepts and at world-class venues!”

European federations hail LET-LPGA joint venture

A NUMBER of European Golf federations have come out strongly in support of the LPGA-LET joint venture, including Sweden, which has two new events.

Gunnar Håkansson, secretary-general of the Swedish Golf Federation, said: “For the Swedish Golf Federation, it’s an important role, to support talent in their aim to become world-class players.

“In doing so, tournaments are important, but for a long time we have lacked an LET event in Sweden.

“It’s therefore very satisfactory that the LET will return in 2020, where our partner Kristianstad GC will arrange the Creekhouse Ladies Open.”

Barbara Albisetti, general secretary of Swiss Golf, also welcomed the LET back to Switzerland.

Albisetti said: “Swiss Golf is extremely pleased a professional women’s tournament of the highest category will take place in Switzerland in 2020.

“Such an event has been missing since the LET tournament in Losone, more than 10 years ago.

“We are very grateful for the support of the LET and LPGA for making this event a reality, and we look forward to hosting the VP Bank Ladies Swiss Open next September.

“The LET event is the ideal platform to promote golf and ladies’ golf in Switzerland, and obviously it is the best place to inspire our top players and our young talents.

“We are determined to make the event in Ennetsee one of the most important appointments for golf in our country for many years to come.”

•To see the full dates of the LET 2020 season and the prize money at each event click here.

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LPGA commissioner Mike Wha and LET chairwoman Marta Figueras-Dotti after announcing the joint partnership between the two women’s tours, in Spain. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

THE world’s two biggest women’s professional golf tours are to unite after an agreement was reached between the LPGA and LET.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association and the Ladies European Tour are forming a venture partnership to push women’s golf to new heights in Europe and around the world.

The combination of the LET’s European expertise and relationships in the region, with the LPGA’s global strength – and worldwide exposure – provides the core ingredients to create a “shared vision for the future of women’s professional golf and growth of the game.”

The two governing bodies had remained tight-lipped about a collaboration since reports of a possible “merger” leaked out two months ago.

But discussions and work on the joint partnership have been ongoing since the Solheim Cup at Glenealges in September.

The LET’s chief executive Mark Lichtenhein stood down shortly after Europe’s win over the USA, in Scotland, after his contract deal with the Tour ended.

LET players voted their support for the joint venture partnership on Tuesday during the LET’s annual membership meeting in Spain.

LET board chairwoman Marta Figueras-Dotti said: “Two teams, joining for one common purpose, will create opportunities we simply could not have pursued on our own.

“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.”

A letter was sent to LET members Figueras-Dotti a month ago outlining the talks that had been taking place “since the summer.”

A leaked copy of the letter said: ““This summer, the LPGA and LET began discussions about a true partnership, where we would work together to build stronger tour schedules, create more financial stability, and deliver a Ladies European Tour that could offer its members significantly more opportunities to compete, earn an income and advance their professional career.”

LET introduces Race to Costa del Sol with bigger prizes

That development, which the LET declined to confirm or deny at the time, followed reports of an attempted bid by the LPGA to take over the LET back in 2018, which former chief Lichtenhein rebuffed at the time.

The LPGA and LET share a common vision to strengthen the presence of women’s golf in Europe, the two tours said today (Wednesday).

“A thriving Europe-based women’s professional tour is critical to help women from the Continent pursue their dreams through the game of golf, and for the overall health and growth of the game globally,” said the LET’s spokeswoman.

“Perhaps most importantly, a strong women’s tour in Europe will expose millions of young girls to the great athletes, leaders and role models of the LET, helping to inspire the next generation of European players.”

LPGA commissioner Michael Whan said: ‘This is an exciting next step for the LPGA’s mission to provide more opportunities for women in this game.

“Over the past 10 years, the LPGA has had tremendous success partnering with other golf stakeholders, including the USGA, PGA Tour, European Tour, R&A and PGA of America, to enhance opportunities for women worldwide.

“We are thrilled to deepen our relationship with the Ladies European Tour in an effort to create the strongest possible women’s tour in Europe.

“We have experienced incredible growth in women’s golf in the US, and this is an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate and expand the game in Europe as well.

“I’m excited that this is something we will build together, with the LET.”

The venture will be jointly managed by the LPGA and the LET and, through their combined resources, will seek to fast-track an expanded LET schedule.

This year’s LET schedule currently includes 20 official events in 13 different countries, with eight of those events in Europe

They included two Major championships – The Evian Championship and the AIG Women’s British Open.

The partnership aims to immediately increase playing opportunities for women in Europe, and to have that schedule growth lead to both increased financial opportunities.

There will be an optional pathway to the LPGA for the tour’s top performers.

In recent years Dorset’s Georgia Hall – last year’s Women’s British Open winner – and Kettering’s Solheim Cup player Charley Hull have combined playing both tours, while Yorkshire’s Jodi Ewart-Shadoff and Lancashire’s Bronte Law have earned LPGA cards via the Symetra Tour.

How will LET schedule look in 2020?

THE LET is based at The Buckinghamshire GC and announcements on any further tie ups between the LPGA, the Symetra Tour, the LET and the LET Access Series will be eagerly awaited between now and the start of the 2020 season.

The first big announcement will be the LET’s 2020 playing schedule. In 2017 it lost seven tournaments completely, but has been more stable in the past two years, with 15 events in 2019 – the last of which starts in Spain on Thursday.

The LET season has got in full swing in recent years with three events in Australia – including the Victoria Open, played alongside the European Tour event, and Australia Ladies Open, in February and March.

Those two events are already co-sanctioned by the LPGA, which has a total of 33 events planned in 2020, with a total prize fund of close to $70million – almost five times the $14million the LET’s members competed for this year.

Nearly half of that total was swallowed up by the Evian Championship and The Women’s British Open leaving more and more women professionals struggling to justify a career on Tour, and having to juggle other jobs to cover the gaps in the playing schedule.

•The 2018 LET tournament schedule can be found here.

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The Magical Kenya Open will become the final event of the 2019 Ladies European Tour season, in December. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

THE Ladies European Tour has announced it will stage the Magical Kenya Ladies Open for the first time in December.

The Baobab Course at Kenya’s Vipingo Ridge, Kilifi County, will welcome the stars of the LET in the last event of 2019.

The East African country welcomed the European Tour for the first time in March, and the LET will have the same title sponsor Magical Kenya, with presenting sponsor MPesa.

The Kenya Open has been played in men’s game since 1967 and had been won by many of the game’s greats. It was first sanctioned as a Challenge Tour event back 1991.

The event – which is being promoted by U.COM Event GmbH – will mark the very first time professional women golfers will have played competitively in the region as well as bringing the curtain down on the LET Order of Merit for the year.

The 72-hole stroke play competition will prove a significant milestone in the history of the sport in Kenya, and hopes to motivate the next generation of female players throughout the country.

The field size is expected to be 96. In an invitation to the players, Dr Amina C Mohamed, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, said: “We are pleased to host the Magical Kenya Ladies Open for the first time.

“lt is our hope and expectation that your participation will inspire other women to take up the sport and awaken their potential to play professionally.

“We warmly welcome all the players to Kenya and wish everyone a rewarding experience in our magical country.”

The tournament will be broadcast live across the globe to millions of viewers, and the event will show off Kenya as a unique golfing and holiday destination as well as elevate the country as an important player on the world’s stage, not just in terms of golf – but sports in general.

Dirk Glittenberg, managing director of U.COM Event, said: “Our long-term vision of bringing women’s professional golf to Kenya is finally becoming a reality.

“We are always striving to find new destinations for the Ladies European Tour and the Kenyan Coast will be a very memorable one for all players, their guests and TV spectators worldwide.”

Marta Figueras-Dotti, chairwoman of the Buckinghamshire Golf Club-based Ladies European Tour, said: “The announcement of the Magical Kenya Ladies Open is a proud moment for everyone at the Ladies European Tour.

“We are excited to help Kenya build its reputation as a preferred golf destination for women and girls.”

Vipingo Ridge overlooks Indian Ocean

Vipingo Ridge’s Baobab Course is the only PGA-accredited golf course in Kenya

SET among 2,500 acres of manicured gardens, a PGA golf course and wilder terrain, Vipingo Ridge is a secure, gated community with panoramic views from the Indian Ocean in the east to the Chodari Hills in the west.

The exotic East African destination offers property investment opportunities as well as holiday rentals for shorter stays.

And with Africa’s only PGA-accredited golf course featuring a meandering system of lakes and streams that runs throughout the championship-level 18 holes, it is an attractive setting for lovers of the game of golf, says its developers.

•Find out more at www.vipingoridge.com

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