Top golf gals heading for Phuket

PHUKET: Ninety-four professional players are scheduled to compete in the Phuket Thailand Ladies Masters (PTLM) tournament from tomorrow until Saturday (December 14 to 17).

The tournament will gather top women golfers from 16 countries or regions: Thailand, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan and Wales.

The line-up includes 32-year-old Swede Charlotta Sorenstam, sister of the well-known Annika Sorenstam; Åsa Gottmo, also a leading Swedish player on the European Tour; Thailand’s Virada Nirapathpongporn, 23, who turned pro in 2005 after winning the Nancy Lopez Award for the best amateur golfer in 2004, and who will compete in the LPGA Tour in 2006; and South Korea’s Naree Song, 19, who won the New Innsbrook CC Futures Golf Classic and took second place in the 2004 Harder Hall Women’s Invitational.

The tournament will take place at Phuket Country Club (PCC). The first day will see a PTLM Pro-Am competition tomorrow. The 10 participants in this tournament will donate the total prize money of US$10,000 (400,000 baht) to a number of schools and individuals affected by last year’s tsunami.

The first and second rounds of the pro competition will take place Thursday and Friday, with the final on Saturday. The Masters’ champion will receive a trophy and US$22,500 (900,000 baht). The first golfer to achieve a hole-in-one at hole 2 will win a Honda Civic, and the first to do likewise at hole 17 will take home a Mazda 3.

The last two days of the tournament will be broadcast live on UBC Channel 36. Spectators will be welcome to attend on all days.

The event is being organized by the Thailand Ladies Golf Association, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Ladies Asian Golf Tour and the PCC.

For more information, contact the PCC at Tel: 076-321038-41 or visit the website here.