(Cheshire, England August 5 2004) The Robe di Kappa Ladies European Tour (LET) announced today a new tournament for the 2005 season, The Ladies Finnish Masters.
It will be the first time in its history that the LET visits Finland as part of the tournament schedule and the event will take place at the Tali course at Helsinki Golf Club from August 26-28 2005.
The Ladies Finnish Masters will carry a minimum prize fund of €200,000 and will also form part of the Nordic-wide Volvo Cross Country Challenge.
Speaking from the HP Open in Sweden, Ian Randell, chief executive of the Ladies European Tour said:
“I am delighted that we can add another event in the Nordic region to compliment our existing events in Sweden and our new event in Denmark.
“Women’s golf in Finland is developing to a high standard and at a fast pace and already the nation can proudly boast one of the potential stars of the future in Minea Blomqvist, who at 19-years-old has already won her maiden title on the LET and carded 62 on two occasions, including setting a new major championship scoring record at the Weetabix Women’s British Open.
“Announcing the Ladies Finnish Masters highlights the growth of the women’s game on a pan-European scale and it was always part of our ambition to build a complete Nordic element leading up to The Solheim Cup in 2007, which Finland are co-hosting with the other Nordic nations.
“This event forms one of the cornerstones in building the foundation leading up to the biggest event in women’s golf and will continue to assist the development of the game in Finland.”
Speaking on behalf of event promoters Infront Nordic Oy, Tero Kumpulainen said:
“After much work and many hours of negotiations, we are delighted to welcome the Ladies European Tour to Finland for the first time.
“This will be the biggest ever golf event in Finland and it comes at an optimal time for us since the emergence of our future Finnish golf stars such as Minea Blomqvist.”
The Tali course was built in 1932 and is the oldest golf course in Finland and with its excellent facilities and beautiful parkland scenery, Tali offers the perfect setting for a world-class event. Finland’s biggest international amateur tournament is held in Tali each August and the course has a strong history of hosting golfing exhibition matches.
Located close to the heart of Helsinki, players, officials, guests and spectators will enjoy both the benefits of fast and easy connections to the course along with having the opportunity to enjoy one of Europe’s most scenic city landscapes.
Infront Nordic Oy specialise in organising marketing cultural and sporting events including the biggest sport events held in Finland, such as Figure Skating World Championships 1999, European Championships in Swimming 2000, EU’s Culture city 2000, Skiing World Championships 2001 and World championships in Ice Hockey in 1997 and 2003.
The Ladies Finnish Masters will also form an integral part of the Nordic-wide Volvo Cross Country Challenge which offers a bonus pool of $100,000 for events in the region, with the added bonus of $1million should any player win all of the Volvo Cross Country Challenge events.
