PETALING JAYA: Former national women golfers Lim Siew Ai and Lim Ai Lian are looking forward to The Ladies Championship as a launchpad for local golfers to elevate their game.

Set to take place at The Mines Resort and Golf Club from Oct 13-15, the inaugural event will see 60 of the country’s top professional and amateur women golfers compete for a total prize purse of RM100,000.

The tournament, in collaboration with the PGM Tour, marks the 25th anniversary of The Mines staging the women’s World Cup in 2000.

The seasoned campaigners Siew Ai and Ai Lian had then competed in the meet.

Siew Ai, a 10-year veteran of the US LPGA Tour, said the introduction of the tournament was timely as opportunities for women golfers had been scarce.

“The tournament is making its debut, and we’ve such an amazing prize money for women’s professionals, and it would be silly not to take advantage of it,” said Siew Ai.

“It’s been a long time coming to have an event like this, and it’s good to have it.”

Siew Ai added that these initiatives would also help women’s golf secure corporate backing.

“Right now, there’s a lot of corporate backing for men’s golf, and for the women in Malaysia, it’s a little bit more difficult to secure sponsorships and support.

“There are a lot of things that can be improved for our professionals if there is a bit more financial support,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ai Lian, who was honoured as National Sportswoman in 1992, said things had come full circle since she and Siew Ai competed in 2000.

“We can be considered as the first batch of women golfers to come up here,” said Ai Lian.

“We saw growth after that and we hope this current generation of ladies will continue to improve the stature of the sport.

“They can inspire the next generation of juniors to come up so we’ll have more women golfers,” added Ai Lian during the tournament’s trophy unveiling ceremony at The Mines Resort and Golf Club yesterday.

The tournament will begin with a pro-am tournament on Oct 12, which will be attended by royalty and prominent members of society.