(Cheshire, England – August 24, 2005) — The Robe di Kappa Ladies European Tour (LET) today announced the qualifying criteria and team selection dates for the 2006 Women’s World Cup of Golf (WWCG), Jan. 20-22 at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa, following an announcment by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
The $1.1 million 20-team event will consist of a three-day, 54-hole competition with a different format on each day: a foursome on Friday; fourball on Saturday; and team-total stroke play on Sunday. The winners will be determined by combining each team’s scores from all three days.
Japan won the inaugural Women’s World Cup of Golf held earlier this year.
The field for the 2006 WWCG will be based on the following criteria:
1. The defending Champion from 2005 WWCG, Japan, and the host country, South Africa, receive automatic exemption into the 2006 tournament.
2. In order for a country to qualify to be represented, the country must be one of the top nine (9) countries from each of the LPGA and LET (collectively the “Tours”) final money list in order of individual standing. The country eligibility will be based on the 2005 final official money list on the LET and after the conclusion of the last official domestic full-field event on the LPGA Tour. If a country is eligible from both Tours, the Tours may, at their discretion, invite additional teams into the competition. No country shall be represented by more than one (1) team.
3. The team for each country to be represented will be selected by the leading women’s professional golf tour in that country or, if no such appropriate tour exists, by the recognized governing body of golf in the country (“selection committee”). The leading women’s professional golf tour of an eligible country may, at their sole discretion, delegate the team selection to another recognized governing body of golf in the country. For each team, the highest-ranked player from either one of the above tours’ final money list or order of merit as applicable must be selected. The selection committee for that country will determine the criteria for the second playing spot. Amateurs may be selected.
4. Each country to be represented will field a team of two players. At the discretion of the Tours, additional countries may field a team even if they do not meet the criteria established in paragraph 2 provided that in the opinion of the Tours such country can provide two (2) national players of sufficient competitive status to form a representative team.
5. An individual may represent her country if she carries the passport of that country or if she was born in that country. In the event an individual has dual citizenship she may elect at the time of qualifying which country she will represent; once a player has made such election, this cannot be changed in relation to the tournament in future years unless and until such time that dual citizenship status is removed.
6. If a country is represented on both top-nine lists, the selection committee for that country will determine who will comprise the team for that country. However, the selection committee for that country must choose the highest-ranked player from at least one of the Tours. (For example, Country A has a player ranked 7th on the LPGA list and another player who is ranked 5th on the LET list, the country is only required to pick one of these players and it does not need to be the highest-ranked player. However, in this example if Country A also had a second player on the LPGA list who was 9th on the list, this player could not be selected as the qualifying player unless one of the other two top-ranked players had declined to play.)
7. If after going through the above selection process there are fewer than 20 teams eligible for the event (by reason of eligible players electing not to play or otherwise), the Tours, at their discretion (as provided in paragraph 4), may invite additional teams such that the event may have up to 20 teams.
8. The final player selections for each team will be determined by October 15, 2005, for the 2006 WWCG.
