Ahead of International Women’s Day, the Ladies European Tour (LET) reflects on the beginnings of the Tour and celebrates the Founding members.
In February 2024, Founding members and early members of the Tour came together to celebrate the 45th anniversary.
The LET, formerly known as the Women’s Professional Golfers’ Association (WPGA), was founded in November 1978 with the first season taking place in 1979.
Throughout 2024, the LET interviewed Founding and early members to learn more about the early years on Tour, what the members have done since, and reflect on how far the LET has come.
All 14 episodes of the Celebrating the Founders series are available to watch on the LET YouTube channel with the full playlist below.
At the 2024 KPMG Women’s Irish Open, there was a welcome reception held at Carton House on Tuesday evening with guests including tournament sponsors, Founding and early members of the LET and LET staff.
Roddy Carr hosted a Q&A with Chris Langford and Maxine Burton – who were both Founders of the LET and played in the first season of the Tour in 1979 – as well as current LET star Georgia Hall.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is Accelerate Action and the Founders of the LET are a prime example of this.
They created the Tour with Carlsberg as the main sponsor and were trailblazers for women’s golf in Europe.
Over 45 years later, the LET now has a global schedule with prize money of €39 million and membership of 416 extraordinary professional golfers representing 43 nationalities.
Additionally, the LET Access Series (LETAS), which is the official development tour of the LET, was formed in 2010 to give players an opportunity and platform to compete and progress onto the LET and is going from strength to strength.
Without the Founders, the LET would not be where it is today, and the staff and members of the LET will be forever thankful for their hard work in setting up the Tour.
Follow all the action on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube.
