Inaugural Ladies European Tour Saudi Arabia Event Confirmed

The Ladies European Tour will be heading to Saudi Arabia in March for the first time, with a huge purse of $1m confirmed for the event

Inaugural Ladies European Tour Saudi Arabia Event Confirmed

The Ladies European Tour will follow the men's European Tour in staging an event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A new tournament has been announced for March, which will be the first women's professional golf event in the Kingdom, as the 'Vision 2030' project continues its momentum.

Saudi Arabia's 'Vision 2030' is an economic programme aimed at decreasing the country's dependency on oil revenue.

At the heart of this is the new $100bn megacity King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC, pronounced 'cake'), which is home to the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club - venue for the men's Saudi International as well as this new LET tournament.

Related: McIlroy and Woods turn their backs on Saudi International and huge appearance fees

The new women's event will see a prize fund of $1m, the second-highest non-Major purse of season on the Ladies European Tour after the Scottish Open.

The men's Saudi International, from Jan 30th to Feb 2nd, once again features a strong field with defending champion Dustin Johnson, World No.1 Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau and Henrik Stenson confirmed.

Related: Mickelson commits to Saudi International to end 30-year Phoenix Open streak

The new Ladies European Tour event will feature Carly Booth, Amy Boulden and Rachel Drummond from the UK and Camilla Lennarth and Isabella Deilart from Sweden, all of whom are Golf Saudi 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," three-time LET winner Carly Booth said.

"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.”

“I am incredibly excited by this announcement and it is an honour for the Tour to be part of history in bringing the first-ever professional women’s golf event to Saudi Arabia,” said Ladies European Tour, CEO, Alexandra Armas.

“Confirmation of adding Saudi Arabia to our schedule for 2020 is an exciting prospect for everyone at the Ladies European Tour and having seen the quality of the event staging for the Saudi International, I am sure this will be a fantastic experience for our players.”

For all the latest golf news, check the Golf Monthly website and follow our social media channels @golfmonthlymagazine on Facebook and @golfmonthly on Twitter and Instagram