Burgeoning women's tour takes in Donegal

Far from dying, as the prophets of doom would have us believe, the European LPGA Tour promises to be at its strongest for some years this year. A schedule of 16 tournaments with prizemoney of €4.9 million (Stg £3,300,000) has been announced for the 1999 season, with the Donegal Irish Women's Open taking place at Letterkenny Golf Club on September 2nd-5th.

Ireland has been a stout supporter of women's professional golf throughout the 1990s, a rocky enough period for the sport with many of the top Europeans playing almost exclusively on the lucrative US LPGA Tour, and this marks the sixth successive year that Ireland will play host to a tournament.

For good measure, Laura Davies, the former world number one, who was highly critical of some of her fellow players for failing to make the trip to last year's venue at Ballyliffin, has already said she intends to compete. In fact, the Irish leg of the European Tour follows immediately after the inaugural Laura Davies Invitational which will take place at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire.

Letterkenny will be the fifth venue in six years to hold the Irish Women's Open - St Margaret's, CityWest, Luttrellstown Castle and Ballyliffin have previously staged it.

The government has committed £100,000 for the tournament and Minister Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr Jim McDaid said that it was appropriate that Donegal should be chosen: "after all it is steeped in the very best traditions of golf and tourism." Records show golf was played in Donegal over a hundred years ago, while the legendary triumvirate of Old Tom Morris, James Braid and Harry Vardon travelled from Scotland to play in professional tournaments in the northwest at the turn of the century. The richest event on the European LPGA circuit this season will be the Evian Masters in France in June which tops the €1 million mark in prizemoney.

Gary Cullen of Beaverstown won the 72-holes medal event which was part of the Irish panel's training week at Club Quinta Do Peru, near Lisbon, in Portugal last week.

Cullen, who made his international debut in last year's Home Internationals, shot a four-underpar 284, a stroke clear of Portmarnock's Adrian Morrow and two ahead of European amateur champion Paddy Gribben. The Irish beat the Portugese national side 7-0 in a fourball match.