LET TO TRY A WEDNESDAY FINISH

By Torleif Sorenson on 5/15/15

Credit to the Ladies European Tour for working to set themselves apart. At next week's LET's 2015 Turkish Airlines Ladies Open, they will begin on Sunday, May 17 and finish on Wednesday, May 20.

Why the Sunday-to-Wednesday approach? Simple: Maximized exposure and fewer live televised alternatives.

Ladies European Tour CEO Ivan Khodabakhsh:

"The Ladies European Tour strategy includes exploring new ways to provide maximum exposure to women's golf, widening the fan base beyond traditional golf fans, reflecting the reality of changed consumer behaviours and avoiding busy weekends, which are over-populated with so many sports."

The idea makes it possible for SkySports and Golf Channel to draw in viewers because no other tournaments are televised then.

Another interesting tactic: The LET plans to flood-light the 18th hole at Carya Golf Club as an experiment for a possible after-dark finish at future Turkish Ladies Open tournaments. We in North America have obviously seen this before with the made-for-TV "Battle at Bighorn" events featuring Tiger Woods.

We obviously don't know how much the Sunday-to-Wednesday schedule will translate into better television ratings, but we certainly hope this turns out well for the LET, their commercial sponsors, SkySports, and Golf Channel — and for golf fans everywhere.


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Image via Ladies European Tour