Saudi Arabia is keen to get sports back in the country and has announced that in November it will be opening its doors to host the world’s first professional Women’s Golf Week.
King Abdulla Economic City will stage the two Ladies European Tour events in the same week, starting November 12. Both tournaments are going to be held within a safe biosecure environment to minimize threats caused by the coronavirus.
The tournaments will attract some of the world’s top golfers to Saudi Arabia. For many of the tournament’s participants, this will be the first time they will be competing in Saudi Arabia.
“As we all know the first half of this year has been extremely challenging on businesses, organisations and nations worldwide, with sport affected greatly,” His Excellency Yasir O Al-Rumayyan, Chairman of the Saudi Golf Federation and tournament organiser Golf Saudi, said in a statement.
“However, we are thankful to both PIF and Aramco – who are equally determined to give elite level sport the platform to continue to flourish, both here in Saudi Arabia and abroad, and never more so than now – which makes us proud to be throwing our full weight behind both the Saudi Ladies International and Saudi Ladies Team International.”
The Aramco Saudi Ladies International was originally planned for March. It will include more than 100 of the world’s best golfers to The Kingdom, all hoping to win its US$1 million prize fund.
The format of the second tournament – the Saudi Ladies Team International – will be unveiled over the next few weeks. The three-day event will see a mix of amateur and professional golfers, competing for a prize of US$500,000.
Majed Al Sorour, CEO Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation, said: “One of our key initiatives for this is hosting tournaments capable of drawing the world’s best players as a means of inspiring the next generation of young Saudis and Saudi golfers, so it is a great honour to be taking our next step on that journey by welcoming the Ladies European Tour to the Kingdom for November’s debut Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF and the Saudi Team International.”
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