Ladies European Tour stops in Korea for three-day Aramco Team Series

Golf

Published: 08 May. 2024, 15:06 Updated: 08 May. 2024, 20:32

Ladies European Tour stops in Korea for three-day Aramco Team Series

Kim Hyo-joo hits her shot from the second tee during the second round of the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, California on April 26. [AFP/YONHAP]

The Aramco Team Series presented by Public Investment Fund will make its debut in Korea on Friday at the New Korea Country Club in Goyang, Gyeonggi with LPGA golfer Kim Hyo-joo joining the 144-field.

Established in 2020, the Aramco Team Series is a Ladies European Tour (LET) event taking place multiple times in different locations around the world every year. Korea is the second stop this year, after Florida in March.

This year marks the first time the tournament has visited Korea and also the first time that any LET event has been held in the country. For this year’s series, Golf Saudi has partnered with Korea's Kolon Group, which has hosted KPGA tournament Kolon Korea Open for 34 years.

The three-day Aramco Series consists of two events: A two-day 36-hole stroke play team event in which each team or four compete for the team title and a three-day 54-hole stroke play individual event in which only pro golfers participate.

The two events are one and the same for the first two days, with the 108 pro golfers playing alongside 36 amateur golfers in the team event, and the pro golfers' individual scores simultaneously being counted for the individual pro event.

The team event will see 36 teams, each consisting of three professional golfers and one amateur, compete for the team trophy. Team captains are selected based on the official Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. In a random order, the captains select a golfer to join their teams, before each team randomly receives one more pro and an amateur.

The 36 captains have been selected, but the teams are still to be determined as of press time Wednesday.

The team event will follow the “two-from-four” format, where the two best scores on each hole are combined and used as the team’s score. The team with the fewest strokes wins the team event. This will allow an amateur golfer to impact the team’s score, as her score could be used if it is higher than a pro’s.

At the close of play on Saturday, the team event will end and the pro field will be cut to 60 and ties based on individual scores up to that point.

The final 18 holes of the individual 54-hole stroke play event will then be played on Sunday to decide the individual title winner.

Kim, No. 12 on the rankings, joins the field after competing on the 2024 LPGA for over two months during which she managed two top-10 finishes. She has yet to win a title, however, having last secured silverware at the Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America in October last year.

“I’ve heard from those on the Tour how special Aramco Team Series events are and how their levels are similar to LPGA majors,” Kim said in a press release. “I decided to compete in the event as soon as I heard that it would take place in Korea for the first time.

“The unique format for the tournament excites me. I’ve never competed in a tournament like this, and I will do my best to show the gallery a high-level performance as I compete alongside fellow LPGA golfers on Korean soil.”

No Korean golfer has won the individual title at an Aramco Team Series event before, but world No. 5 Ko Jin-young finished as runner-up at the 2023 Hong Kong tournament.

She lost the title to Lin Xiyu from China after a playoff. Ko is not competing this year, but fellow LPGA golfers will be in the field, including Danielle Kang from the United States.

Danielle Kang hits her shot from the second tee during the first round of The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas on April 18. [AFP/YONHAP]

“I’m thrilled to be participating in the Aramco Team Series in Korea,” Kang said. “I absolutely love the team aspect of this series and can’t wait to play alongside great field of golfers from both the LPGA and LET. I am very thankful for this opportunity and excited to compete in Korea.”

Kang, 31, is a veteran golfer who has competed on the LPGA Tour since 2012, winning six titles, including a major at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2017.

She has not lifted a trophy on the Tour since winning the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in 2022. She joins the Aramco Series with a relatively unimpressive performance on the Tour this season, having failed to make the cut in three of the seven events.

Her best finish was joint 20th at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February.

Kang has prior experience in the Aramco Series, though, as she competed at the 2023 Singapore event, where she finished as runner-up in the individual event after falling four strokes behind Pauline Roussin from France.

England's Charley Hull, ranked at world No. 7 as of April 29 — when the Aramco Series decided the team captains based on the rankings — is also participating after winning the individual title of the Aramco Series in New York in 2021 and managing two runner-up finishes in the team events in July 2023 and March this year.

Charley Hull hits her shot from the second tee during the first round of The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas on April 18. [AFP/YONHAP]

Hull has yet to win a title on the LPGA Tour this season, but she has managed two top-10 finishes and tied for 13th at the JM Eagle LA Championship last month.

Kim, Kang and Hull will compete against each other in the team series, as all were selected as captains.

The Aramco Series also offers the viewing public a rare glimpse into the New Korea Country Club which has operated as an exclusively and highly sought-after members’ club for its 38 years of existence. The course offers some mountain views, which are especially notable on the par-4 10th hole.

The course is located only a half-hour drive from western Seoul, making it relatively accessible for many golf fans from the capital and satellite cities of Seoul in northern Gyeonggi.

As well as the golfers on the course, the gallery can also enjoy a bit of virtual reality golf at the Aramco Energy Zone during the tournament. The fan zone, meanwhile, will have beverages and food for spectators.

Three more Aramco Series tournaments are scheduled this year, with the series heading to England in July, a yet-to-be-confirmed location in Asia in October and Saudi Arabia in November.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]