Davies headlines NSW Women's Open
BY Bruce Young | ALPG Tour | 2008 Women's NSW Open | Preview | 24 Jan 2008
Having been rescheduled to bring it into line with the MFS Women’s Australian Open and the ANZ Ladies Masters, the $125,000 LG Bing Lee Women’s New South Wales Open will tee off this week from January 25 – 27 2008 at the Oatlands Golf Club in Sydney’s north-west.
The decision to move the event from its previous date in December had immediate impact when England’s Laura Davies confirmed her participation soon after hearing the news of the change of date.
Former world number one and a winner of 68 tournaments worldwide, Davies said she was looking forward to the Australian events.
“I have been playing the Aussie events for over ten years now and always look forward to the trip. Playing the LG Bing Lee New South Wales Open will be a fun week and even though it will be my first tournament following a ten week break, I will be looking to add it to my winning list and importantly treating it very seriously given that it comes the week before the Open and the ANZ Ladies Masters.”
The LG Bing Lee Women’s New South Wales Open was played for the first time in December 2006 with Oatlands member Joanne Mills winning the title following a five hole playoff with another New South Wales golfer, Sarah Kemp.
The Oatlands Golf Club will feature a par 72 – 5,475 metre yard layout for the tournament. The venue was the home club of Bing Lee founder, the late Ken Lee, whose retail company joined forces with LG last year in order to elevate the status of the tournament. Unfortunately Ken Lee passed away in December but his legacy will live on in the form of this tournament in addition to the many other events he supported. The Open Cup is to be named the Ken Lee Cup as a mark of respect and appreciation for Ken Lee’s support.
The timing of the event has secured a strong field of Ladies European Tour (LET) players according to Australian Ladies Professional Golf’s Chief Executive Officer, Warren Sevil.
“We are delighted that 35 members of the LET will join the Australia contingent, including our leading amateur players, as they prepare for the LET co sanctioned MFS Open and the ANZ Ladies Masters in the two weeks following,” said Sevil. “Having Laura play next week is a great boost for the event and typifies her relationship with and support of Australian women’s golf. She has been a great supporter of Australian events over the years and once again her presence in this event adds a new dimension to the tournament.”
Leading international players confirmed for the event in addition to Davies are Frenchwomen Gwladys Nocera and German Bettina Hauert. Hauert and Nocera both won twice on the LET in 2007 and finished second and third respectively on the 2007 New Star Money List.
Australia’s charge will be lead by defending champion Joanne Mills, two time 2007 LET winner Nikki Garrett, Sarah Kemp – who is bound for the LPGA this year and LPGA tour player Katherine Hull.
Frances Crampton CEO of Women’s Golf New South Wales expressed her delight with the new positioning of the tournament and the impact it has had on the event. “We are quite excited at the response we have had. We had 150 entries, from which we have a field of 132, with 112 Professionals including some world ranked players + the leading Amateurs in Australia.”
“This is only the 2nd NSW Women’s Open and we are the only State to conduct a Women’s Open. The first one we held in December 2006, and it was so successful we decided to move it to form part of the Summer Down Under Series.”
The tournament will attract Rolex World Rankings points and is one of the qualifying events for elite amateurs in the Karrie Webb Series.
