Other Professional Golf Tours for Ladies
The leading professional golf tours for ladies are of course the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour (LET). However, female golfers also play tournaments that are organised by regional tours which are independent from both the LPGA and the LET.
Together with the LPGA and the LET, there are currently 6 independent, first tier tours for female golfers. The remaining four include:
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The LPGA of Japan Tour. It is the second richest professional golf tour after the LPGA Tour. But while the LPGA of Japan Tour reduces the gap in prize fund in comparison to the LPGA Tour, it is seriously rivalled by both the LPGA of Korea Tour and the LET in the competition level. The LPGA of Japan Tour is run by the Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association of Japan.
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The Ladies Asian Golf Tour. It is a professional golf tour for ladies which has been founded in 2005 in order to cover Asian countries that aren’t a part of the LPGA of Japan Tour and the LPGA of Korea Tour, similarly as the Asian Tour in men’s golf. One of the Ladies Asian Golf Tour events is co-sanctioned by the LPGA of Korea Tour and as a result, the winner receives an entry to the latter.
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The LPGA of Korea Tour. It is a South Korean based professional golf tour for ladies. Just like the LPGA in case of Japan Tour, the LPGA in Korea Tour stands for Ladies Professional Golf Association and has nothing to do with the American LPGA or its tour.
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The ALPG Tour. It is Australia based professional golf tour for ladies. It was established in 1972 under the name the Ladies Professional Golf Association of Australia (LPGAA) but it was renamed as the ALPG Tour in 1991. Three ALPG Tour events are co-sanctioned by the LET – the ANZ Ladies Masters, the MFS Women’s Australian Open and the New Zealand Women’s Open.
Both LPGA Tour and the LET also run second tier professional tours for women. The LPGA Tour runs the Symetra Tour, formerly known as the LPGA Futures Tour and the Duramed FUTURES Tour (for sponsorship reasons) which is also the official developmental tour of the LPGA Tour. It is open to all professional female golfers and amateurs.
The LET launched its second tier golf tour – the LET Access Series (LETAS) which also serves as a feeder to the LET only in 2010. The winner of the LETAS gains a membership of the LET, while the second and third ranked players can progress to the final of the LET Qualifying School.