Sports

Hull joins Hall in confirming her place for next month’s Saudi Ladies International golf week

Charley Hull will be playing in next month's debut Saudi golf events.
JEDDAH — English golfing sensation Charley Hull has on Tuesday confirmed her spot in Saudi Arabia’s ‘women’s week of golf’ – joining Major-winning Solheim Cup teammate Georgia Hall as one of the headline names competing in next month’s “unprecedented” $1.5 million events. The 24-year old will head to the Middle East seeking her second win in the region, having come out on top in Abu Dhabi’s Fatima Bint Mubarak Open last year. Hull will have two chances to do so, with the Ladies European Tour event last week announcing that Royal Greens Golf Club — in the coastal resort of King Abdullah Economic City — will be hosting two landmark world-ranking tournaments in just seven days: the $1million prize fund Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund (Nov. 12-15), and the Saudi Ladies Team International, where professionals and amateurs will compete in teams (Nov. 17-19). Both tournaments will be held within a safe bio-secure environment and will see more than 100 of the world’s best golfers descend on the Kingdom for the first ever women’s professional golf event held in Saudi Arabia. It will also be only the second international professional women-only sports event to take place within the Kingdom, and the all-new team format promised for the Saudi Ladies Team International will be a Ladies European Tour first — a set-up that could make for a 2019 Solheim Cup reunion for Hull and her European counterpart Georgia Hall, who confirmed her place in the history-making event earlier in the year, alongside Golf Saudi ambassadors Amy Boulden and Camilla Lennarth. Hull said: “To play golf around the world was always my dream growing up and now I have the opportunity to compete in another new country for the women’s game. “The course looks absolutely stunning so I can’t wait to get out there and compete against some of the world’s top female golfers. It is great to be competing in this inaugural tournament, which is unprecedented, as we play golf in Saudi Arabia for the first time.” Hall added: “It’s been a long time coming, with March’s original event postponed due to the pandemic but the prospect of getting out somewhere new and competing in not just one but two tournaments in the space of a week is incredibly exciting for the players – and shows incredible backing for the women’s game. “The golf course looks fantastic and I’m sure will bring out the best in us, so I’m really looking forward to it.” Both women played pivotal roles in Europe’s thrilling 2019 Solheim Cup triumph over Team USA at Gleneagles, earning seven points between them. 2014 LET Player of the Year and Order of Merit winner Hull carried that form into the LPGA Tour’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship last November, where a second-placed finish earned her almost $500,000. She has returned to post-lockdown golf in