- Women's Australian Open (golf)
Infobox Golf Tournament
tournament_name = Women's Australian Open
location = AUS
establishment = 1974
course =Kingston Heath Golf Club
par = 72
yardage = convert|5499|m|yd|0|abbr=on
tour =ALPG Tour , LET
format =Stroke play , 4 rounds
purse =A$ 500,000
month_played = February
defunct = No
aggregate = 270Karrie Webb (2000)
to-par=-22Karrie Webb (2000)
Current Champion =Karrie Webb The Women's Australian Open is agolf tournament played inAustralia which is sanctioned by theALPG Tour and theLadies European Tour (LET). In 2008, it was the second-richest women's golf tournament on the ALPG Tour, with a prize fund of AUD 500,000. It is known for sponsorship purposes as the Women's Australian Open.The Australian Ladies Open was originally founded in 1974 as a 54-hole event, but folded after 1978. It was resurrected in 1994 as the Women's Australian Open, this time as a 72-hole event.
Annika Sörenstam won that year, which was her first professional win. It was alsoKarrie Webb 's professional debut, and she would later win the event four times. Starting in 2000, the Ladies European Tour began co-sanctioning the tournament.cite web|url=http://www.womensaustralianopen.com/the_event_history.asp|title=Brief History Of The Women's Australian Open|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20010406062336/www.womensaustralianopen.com/the_event_history.asp|archivedate=2001-04-06] Following the 2004 event, sponsorship difficulties caused the tournament to stop once again, but after a two-year hiatus the tournament returned in 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/golf/bridges-built-for-womens-open/2006/05/30/1148956347467.html|title=Bridges built for women's Open|first=Peter|last=Stone|date= May 31, 2006|publisher=The Age Company|accessdate=2007-06-09] The Women's Australian Open usually moves between various courses around Australia, except from 1995 through 2002 when it was held at theYarra Yarra Golf Club inMelbourne . The 2008 event was held atKingston Heath Golf Club . [cite web|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,,21831477-23213,00.html?from=public_rss|title= Women's Australian Open for Melbourne|date=June 1, 2007|publisher=AAP|accessdate=2007-06-09]For several years after its return in 1994, the Women's Australian Open was played early in the ALPG schedule, usually in November. Starting in 2000, it was changed to be played at the end of the schedule in February near the
ANZ Ladies Masters , to allow both tournaments to be part of the Ladies European Tour. Since the Women's Australian Open was played from 12-15 November, 1998 during the 1998/1999 ALPG season, it was therefore not played during the 1999 calendar year. [cite web|url=http://www.alpgtour.com/past_tournament_detail.asp?xmlref=T58.xml|title=Past Tournament Detail|accessdate=2007-06-09]Tournament names through the years:
*1974: Wills Australian Ladies Open
*1975-1978: WillsQantas Australian Ladies Open
*1994-1996:Holden Women's Australian Open
*1997: Toyota Women's Australian Open
*1998-2004:AAMI Women's Australian Open
*2007-present: MFS Women's Australian OpenWinners
Notes and references
External links
* [http://www.australianopengolf.com.au Sponsor tournament site]
* [http://www.alpgtour.com/current_tounaments.asp ALPG page about the tournament]
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