Justin Rose to sponsor British women’s golf series

June 19, 2020

Justin Rose and his wife Kate will sponsor a new seven-tournament series for British women professional golfers.

The Justin Rose Ladies Series will begin with a tournament on June 18 at Brockenhurst Manor in Hampshire, while the schedule also includes a tournament at Royal St George's, which was due to host The Open in July before it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Each tournament will be played on one day with the exception of the final, which takes place over two days in July at a venue yet to be confirmed. All tournaments will be played behind closed doors and all seven golf courses involved will allow the use of their facilities free of charge. Each event will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK.

Justin, the 2013 US Open Champion and gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and Kate, a former European champion gymnast, are contributing £35,000 into the series as prize money.

Justin decided to get involved after reading about the efforts of Ladies European Tour player Liz Young and Jason MacNiven, who runs a custom club-fitting company at Brockenhurst Manor, to stage the series of events. But the series was without a sponsor and broadcast partner.

Justin felt it unfair that while he will return to action on the PGA Tour at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Texas on June 11, the LET and LPGA are not expected to return to full competition until August.

“I am sad that the Ladies’ European Tour has been suffering so badly. To me this seems somewhat unfair - my wife Kate and I felt there was an opportunity to step up and help,” the former world number one said.

“The prize money is modest because it is me throwing in some money and then the ladies are paying an entry fee and being able to play for a pot. We wanted to give them the opportunity to play and to be ready for when the opportunities arise later in the summer.”

Kate added: "It is so important for the visibility of ladies' golf that they can play at good courses and on TV because they need to be out there to both attract sponsors and keep their current sponsors happy as well as allowing more people to get to know who they are."

Other courses that have been signed up to host the Justin Rose Series are Bearwood Lakes Golf Club in Berkshire, JCB Golf and Country Club in Uttoxeter, Moor Park Golf Club and Buckinghamshire Golf Club.