Major stars Lexi Thompson and Georgia Hall have signed up for the inaugural Aramco Team Series – London, the first of five Ladies European Tour events to be sponsored by Aramco in 2021.
The tournament, which gets underway on July 8, will be played over three days at Centurion Club, St Albans, and joining the field will be Swedish double-major winner Anna Nordqvist and last season’s LET Race to Costa del Sol champion Emily Kristine Pedersen.
The $1 million event offers amateur players the chance to play on the pro tour alongside some of the biggest names in women’s golf.
The five Aramco-sponsored events scheduled for 2021 will take place in the UK, Spain, the Unites States and Saudi Arabia.
They include the Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande (August 5 – 7), Aramco Team Series – New York (October 14 – 16) and Aramco Team Series – Jeddah (November 10 – 12).
The Jeddah event will take place just days after the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund, which is scheduled from November 4 – 7.
Each Aramco Team Series tournament will see 36 captains lead teams of four players, who together will compete to shoot the lowest combined score over three days.
All teams will feature three LET players paired through a unique draft system, in which captains choose one player and are randomly assigned another.
The fourth member of each team will be an amateur golfer – a position open to all golfers in the UK for the Aramco Team Series – London through the tournament’s world-first Team Up competition.
Brand New Format
“It is really exciting to have not only a brand-new format of event to look forward to, but to have another big event on the LET schedule in the UK. It’s a place I love to visit and play golf, so I can’t wait to get going in July,” said 11-times LPGA Tour winner Thompson.
Ladies European Tour CEO Alexandra Armas added: “To the LET, the Aramco Team Series – London and the subsequent team events are a massive moment of elevation for the women’s game, and to have a field as strong as we do is fantastic.
“As a Tour, we are always more than happy to do things a little differently – take risks, try new things and mix up the way we play and experience golf. That’s certainly what the Aramco Team Series – London promises to do.”
“The action at Centurion will open an exciting new chapter in women’s golf and one we see as playing a massive role in the continued growth of the game.”
The format of the team events was first trialed in November 2020 at the Saudi Ladies Team International, which was won by Danish star Pedersen and her team of South Africa’s Casandra Hall, Michele Thomson of Scotland and amateur golfer, Matt Selby.
European Solheim Cup hero Georgia Hall played in that event (highlights below) and is excited about the format becoming a regular feature on the LET.
She said: “It’s a really great addition to the Tour that I think most of us can’t wait to get playing in. It’s a new format and it’s different – and will only be a force for good in women’s golf.”
