- The 2015 Turkish Airlines Ladies Open is the first tournament on any major golf tour to finish on a Wednesday
- Event to be played from Sunday 17th to Wednesday 20th May, with record prize money of 500,000 euros, an increase of 100 per cent on 2014
- Pilot event schedule is hailed by broadcasters and sponsors seeking to avoid clutter in the sports calendar
- Wednesday finish is part of LET’s dynamic new ‘More than a Tour’ marketing and event strategy
- Event broadcast on live television in 60 countries and 243million homes
- Floodlit 18th hole coverage may prepare the ground for a potential floodlit tournament in the future
Summary
The Ladies European Tour (LET) is leading the way in experimenting with the way golf is consumed.
The pioneering move is one of a tranche of innovations aimed at boosting the profile of the sport both on television and at the event and has been met with enthusiasm from broadcasters and commercial partners.
Breaking with the traditional Sunday finish will ensure that the tournament receives extended live television coverage on Sky Sports and Golf Channel and will be watched in 60 countries worldwide.
The story comes after the LET recently announced a new ten-year deal with premier watchmaker Omega, and a lucrative extension to its broadcast deal with Sky Sports in the UK.
Player Quotes:
Dame Laura Davies (England)
I think it’s a great idea, a great innovation, because we get live TV, which we crave for. We don’t get it, the men get it. It’s awkward, because if you play both tours like I do, you miss two tournaments. It’s hard to miss two for one. For the European players it’s great because if it happens more and more the TV coverage would presumably up the profile and it would help everything, so it’s a very good idea.
Amy Boulden (Wales)
I think it’s a great idea, especially for TV reasons as we’re getting more coverage. At the moment we’re competing with both men’s tours and the LPGA so it’s quite hard for people watching at home. I think it’s great for our tour and to get noticed. I think it’s a great idea and hopefully if it goes well this week we can get a few more events like this.
Gwladys Nocera (France)
For us, it doesn’t change anything because we have to play the Pro-Am and the four rounds. I think it’s a good idea to give it a try, see how it goes and if we get more viewers on TV. If it’s helpful for the tour I think we should do it more often. If not then at least we will have tried. I hope there will be enough crowds, as if we’re not finishing on the weekend it’s different. If we can get more TV I think it’s good and we have to see after this week how it works and make a decision after.
Nanna Koertz Madsen (Denmark)
For me it’s just like a normal week. You come and play a practice round. I don’t think I really noticed whether it’s Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It doesn’t make any difference for me. It’s a good idea if it gets more television.
Patricia Sanz Barrio (Spain)
I think it’s a great idea that we’re moving to Wednesdays because there are not many other sports on TV so hopefully it will become the most important sport on Wednesdays and I think it’s a great opportunity and idea for women’s golf to be more important and popular around Europe.
Marion Ricordeau (France)
I think this tour deserves to be known better and we are the first ones to try it. For us, it doesn’t make a big difference but for other people it is getting in their mind that we can play good golf also on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It will probably result in more tournaments like this and I think it’s beautiful to play during the week, starting on a Sunday. Hopefully it’s going to bring more sponsors and more tournaments.
Liz Young (England)
I think it will be great, especially TV wise. Normally we have Thursday to Sunday tournaments like the men, so we’re always competing against the men unfortunately on TV and in today’s world, in sport, unfortunately the men usually win. Going to a Wednesday finish, there is no men’s golf being played so hopefully we’ll get more TV and more coverage and exposure, which can only be good for the Ladies European Tour.
I think some events need to stay as a Sunday finish due to the weekend and fans being at the course. Where there is less public on the course and more TV coverage I think it’s important to finish on a Wednesday.
Valentine Derrey (France)
For myself, it doesn’t matter because it’s still a four round tournament. If we are on TV, for women’s golf it’s going to be great. We might get more viewers on TV and for us, it doesn’t matter. We just travel Thursday to Thursday instead of Monday to Monday. If we get more TV viewers we might get better prizes and more money, and that’s what we are looking for. That’s the goal.
Carly Booth (Scotland)
I think it’s quite nice, especially as we’ve just come from China. I had those extra three days at home just to recuperate and now I’m here I think it was very much needed. Hopefully this will help with more TV viewers and it’s a nice change.
