The new-look golf course of Asiad Country Club in the southern port city of Busan is ready to host an international tournament after it was designated as an LPGA-accredited facility. [Yonhap News Photo ]
SEOUL -- A South Korean golf course has been reborn as the first LPGA-accredited facility outside the United States and is ready to host the country's only LPGA tournament next month.
Asiad Country Club in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was introduced on Monday as LPGA International Busan. LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan was on hand for the unveiling ceremony in the nation's second-largest metropolitan city, joined by Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don and LPGA International Busan CEO Hwang Kyu-tae.
The new-look golf course will host the inaugural BMW Ladies Championship from Oct. 24-27. The 72-hole stroke play tournament will have a total purse of US$2 million, with $300,000 going to the champion.
The BMW Ladies Championship will replace the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship as the lone LPGA tournament on Korean soil.
After Busan was selected as the tournament host in March last year, Rees Jones, Inc., the golf course design firm bearing the name of the renowned architect, began working on major renovations at Asiad Country Club, which was built in 2002 for the Asian Games in Busan.
"I'm very impressed that LPGA International Busan is a completely different course from when I visited the venue in March last year," Whan said. "It's a high-quality championship layout and with the best female players on the planet competing in the BMW Ladies Championship next month, the whole world will be able to experience the beauty of Busan. We look forward to collaborating with Busan to make LPGA International Busan one of the best golf destinations in Korea."
(Yonhap)
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