Following the Evian Masters, the world’s finest women golfers descend on the UK as three professional tournaments take place on British shores.
It all starts with the season’s final major championship: the Weetabix Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes from August 3 to 6, which carries a prize fund of £1.05 million.
This is probably the third most prestigious tournament in women’s golf, after the US Women’s Open and The Solheim Cup, (the biennial women’s
team event equivalent to the men’s Ryder Cup).
Fans of women’s golf will be in for a real treat when the likes of Michelle Wie, Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, Se Ri Pak, Karrie Webb and Laura Davies come to Lancashire in August and when, just two weeks later, they reassemble in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, for the Wales Ladies Championship of Europe at Machynys Peninsula Golf Club from August 17-20.
To demonstrate the immense talent which will be on display here, collectively, Sorenstam, Webb, Pak and Davies own a total 26 major championship titles and it could be one more by the time the Weetabix Women’s British Open is over.
For those who can’t get enough of ladies’ professional golf, the formidable Chart Hills Golf Club will host its third Ladies English Open from October 6-8, at the heavily bunkered Nick Faldo golf course which lies deep in the beautiful Kent countryside.
Officials at Chart Hills are determined that October’s event is bigger and better than ever and as the tournament has grown steadily over the last two years, with record numbers flocking through the gates last year to witness Sweden’s Maria Hjorth claim her second English Open crown, they are expecting a crowds bonanza.
At the Weetabix Women’s British Open, just over 75,000 spectators attended the last time it was staged at Lytham in 2003 and it is predicted that there could
be as many as 100,000 spectators through the gate this year
if there is fine weather.
In recent years, ladies’ golf has become increasingly main stream and it is now a tremendously popular global sport. The Brits are lucky to have such high quality events right on their doorstep and to be able to enjoy a piece of the action.
At Royal Lytham, one of the star attractions is sure to be the undisputed long time World no.1, Annika Sorenstam, who recently captured her third US Women’s Open crown. The most successful golfer of the modern era, with her win, Sorenstam boosted her lead in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings and she has now collected ten major championships. She will be looking to make that 11 when she plays in the UK in August.
