Seven Scots set to tee up in first women's golf event in Saudi Arabia

Seven Scottish golfers are set to be part of next week's ground-breaking first women's professional tournament in Saudi Arabia.

Carly Booth is among seven Scots set to tee up in next week's inaugural Aramco Saudi Ladies International at Royal Greens in King Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Tristan Hones

The small tartan army for the inaugural Aramco Saudi Ladies International at Royal Greens in King Abdullah Economic City on the Red Sea coast includes LET winners Carly Booth and Kylie Henry.

Kelsey MacDonald, Michele Thomson, Alison Muirhead and Laura Murray have also secured spots in the $1 million event through their LET categories while Heather MacRae is set to tee up after landing an invitation.

Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew had also been due to be in the field, but she has been withdrawn after testing positive for Covid-19 ahead of this week's Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic.

While some LET players, including England's Meghan MacLaren, have decided to skip the event due to concerns over Saudi Arabia's human rights record, the line up is set to be strong.

It will be headed by recent LPGA Tour winner Georgia Hall, who is being joined by three of her team-mates from the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles - Charley Hull, Anna Nordqvist and Anne van Dam.

The field will also include four-time major-winner Laura Davies, who is thrilled to be part of the landmark event in women’s golf.

“The Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF will be quite the watershed moment that allows us to bring the sport we love to a whole new audience in a way that I think blazes a trail for women and sportswomen in and out of Saudi Arabia," said the former world No 1 .

“We’re taking women’s golf to a new frontier, both in terms of inspiring new women to give the sport a try and in helping grow the Ladies European Tour event calendar, so it’s a tournament I’m really excited to play in."

The event takes place on 12-15 November and is being followed on 17-19 November at the same venue by the Saudi Ladies Team International.

To celebrate the historic nature of both tournaments, Golf Saudi is launching a ‘Ladies First Club’, which will offer free golf to 1,000 women living across the Kingdom.

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