Thai tournament for women's tour

THE EUROPEAN women's golf tour is to visit Thailand for the first time next spring. The inaugural Thailand Ladies Open will have prize money of around £217,000 and will take place on March 31-April 3 at a course still to be announced in Bangkok.

The field will consist of 132 players with a minimum of 60 coming from the European circuit.

Ian Randell, the tour's chief executive, said: "We are in the final stages of negotiating with several other possible tournaments in the Asian region and this provides further evidence of the growth and prosperity of women's golf on a global scale."