Players’ such as Danielle Masters from England, Australian Anna Rawson, German Anja Monke, Scotland’s Lynn Kenny and Spaniard Marta Prieto were the epitome of golf fashion and glamour and were attracting much media attention.
On the Ladies European Tour, many players are fully aware of the importance of using their image to attract the interest of sponsors and professional women’s golf is following in the footsteps of tennis, where photogenic Russian star Anna Kournikova thrust the game into the spotlight following her first appearance at a US Open. The Kournikova effect, which revolutionised ladies tennis and put it up on the same level as men’s tennis, has set a successful model for golf to follow.
On the Ladies European Tour, many of the young players are using their looks to maximum effect, capitalising on their earning potential with endorsements from huge international corporations. Among the players competing on the European golf circuit, the promising new rookies Danielle Masters and Anna Rawson will be watched closely as they battle it out in their first year on Tour. These players have the games to earn victories and to make their mark on the New Star Money List. Masters, being European born, could even make it into The 2007 European Solheim Cup Team if she can produce the results over the next two seasons. Players such as Spaniard Marta Prieto, New Zealander Lynnette Brooky and French woman Gwladys Nocera have found a maturity in their games but at the same time are promoting their images to get the all-important attention of sponsors.
Beauty, talent and glamour combined make an extremely marketable product and many of the players’ representatives are increasingly recognising this, allowing the LET’s best players to take on a dual role as advertising model and powerful competitor.
The Tenerife Ladies Open marked the first stop in Europe for the Ladies European Tour in 2006 after two successful tournaments in South Africa and Australia. The LET’s players were cutting quite a figure on the fairways at the five star Abama Golf Resort, with their model-like good looks, personalities and sporting ability.
