Göteborg Masters promises all star cast
For the first time in a decade, the Ladies European Tour returns to the Gothenburg area of Sweden
For the first time in a decade, the Ladies European Tour returns to the Gothenburg area of Sweden for this week s 250,000 Göteborg Masters at Lycke Golf Club, from 18-21 September.
The tournament boasts an extremely high quality field, with six of the top ten players on the New Star Money List present.
Current European number one Helen Alfredsson, the 2008 Evian Masters champion, is the star attraction and will be the local favourite competing on a course she co-designed with Johan Henriksson.
Alfredsson, now ninth on the Rolex Women s World Golf Rankings, grew up in the area and has the advantage that she knows the layout well, although she has only played it two or three times since its opening in 2005.
A win here would mean a lot to me on my home course and in my home town, said the 43-year-old Alfredsson. My main worry is what the other girls will say about the course so maybe I should run away from here! I m very happy with my year so far. I m still hitting the ball very well and feel in good form.
Gwladys Nocera of France, who has won three times this season, is ranked second on the New Star Money List and will be hoping to mount pressure on last year s Solheim Cup Captain.
Fourth ranked Amy Yang of South Korea is back in Sweden where she claimed her second victory of 2008 at last month s Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika.
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Lotta Wahlin, ranked sixth on the New Star Money List, will be aiming for a third win of the season on home soil while seventh ranked Lisa Hall of England, the 2008 ANZ Ladies Masters champion, will be hoping to improve upon her runner-up spot at last week s UNIQA Ladies Golf Open in Austria.
Anne-Lise Caudal of France, ranked tenth in Europe after her win in Portugal, is targeting a second LET title and is in a strong vein of form after her tie for eighth place in Austria. She is one of eight of this year s tournament winners competing this week.
The two remaining tournament winners from 2008 who are in the field are the popular Swede Emma Zackrisson and England s Laura Davies, who successfully retained the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open in Austria on Sunday.
Other notables in the field are Swedes Linda Wessberg, Sophie Gustafson and Carin Koch and Paula Marti, the 2002 order of merit winner.
Of the marquee groups, Alfredsson, Davies and Wahlin will play together at 8.50am from the 10th tee in Thursday s first round, with Nocera, Gustafson and Yang off at the same time, beginning from the first tee. In the afternoon, Caudal will play with Hall and Koch at 1.00pm from the first, while Wessberg, Luna and Zackrisson start at the same time from the 10th.
Lycke Golf Course is situated approximately 30 minutes north of Gothenburg, near the sea just south of Marstrand and features many different types of holes, in open, forested and sea-side areas.
The tournament is unique in that the field will also feature 29 players from the Masters Tour, which is the official feeder tour to the LET. The LET last visited the Gothenburg area in 1998 when Laura Davies won the Chrysler Open at Sjörgärde GolfKlubb.