A truly international schedule featuring 24 golf tournaments in 19 different countries was unveiled for 2012 today by the Ladies European Tour.
The 2012 Ladies European Tour schedule features two new tournaments in Buckinghamshire, England and Helsingborg, Sweden, as well as two provisional additional dates in March and October.
The year starts off with Qualifying School at La Manga Club in Spain in early January. The season proper then begins with RACV Australian Ladies Masters during the first week of February, followed by the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open and the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open, hosted by Christchurch.
The Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco will be played one week earlier than previously scheduled, from March 22-25 and moves to Golf de l'Ocean in Agadir, which hosted the Hassan II Trophée on the PGA European Tour in 2010. For the third straight year the men’s and women’s events will take place in the same city during the same week.
Moving into Europe, the Aberdeen Asset management Ladies Scottish Open presented by EventScotland will continue at Archerfield Links in East Lothian, Scotland, from May 3-5. The designated special event will feature a field of 80 players with a cut.
The Turkish Ladies Open then continues at National Golf Club, Belek, Antalya, Turkey, from May 10-13, followed by the UniCredit Ladies German Open presented by Audi at Golfpark Gut Häusern, near Munich in Germany from May 24-27.
In June, the Deloitte Ladies Open will again be played at Golfclub Broekpolder in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, followed by the Ladies Slovak Open at Golf Resort Tale in Brezno, Tale, Slovakia.
The Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, with a prize fund of €525,000, will be played at Golf Gerre Losone, Ticino, Switzerland from June 14-17.
Then, following a successful first visit to the Czech Republic in 2010, the Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters will return to Albatross Golf Resort.
The Evian Masters presented by Societe Generale will be staged at Evian Masters Golf Club in Evian-Les-Bains, France from June 26-29.
Returning to the scene of Europe’s dramatic Solheim Cup victory, Killeen Castle will host the
Ladies Irish Open from August 3-5.
Buckinghamshire Golf Club, venue for the inaugural ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters
The inaugural ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters will be played at Buckinghamshire Golf Club, home to the Ladies European Tour’s headquarters, from August 13-19 following the London 2012 Olympic Games and before the Paralympics.
The Tour will then move to Austria for the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen at Golfclub Föhrenwald in Wiener Neustadt from August 30 to September 2nd.
In another exciting development, the LET returns to Sweden after a three year hiatus for the inaugural Helsingborg Open at Vasatorp Golf Club, Helsingborg, Skane, from September 6-9.
The RICOH Women's British Open, making an historical first visit to Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, from September 13-16, will then take place ahead of the Open de España Femenino and Ladies Open of Portugal.
The Lacoste Ladies Open de France moves to Chantaco Golf Club in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Aquitaine, from October 4-7, for the last event of the year on European soil.
The Tour then heads east for the Sanya Ladies Open at Yalong Bay Golf Club in Hainan, China, ahead of the China Suzhou Taihu Open at Suzhou Taihu International Golf Club near Shanghai from October 26-28.
The Hero Honda Women's Indian Open will again take place at DLF Golf & Country Club near New Delhi and the season concludes with the seventh staging of the highly popular Omega Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Course in the United Arab Emirates.
“We have been able to offer our members a wide range of attractive playing opportunities at some of the world’s finest international venues,” said the Ladies European Tour’s executive director Alexandra Armas.
“We are pleased with the schedule, particularly given the poor shape of the global economy and these are exciting times for the LET.”