2009-04-24 19:43:20 Xinhua Web Editor: Sun Yang

China LPGA Tour will kick off its inaugural season with the Beijing Orient Pearl Championship on May 11-17, the China Golf Association (CGA) announced in Beijing on Friday.

The 2009 China LPGA Tour will feature seven tournaments in seven cities -- Beijing, Yantai, Shanghai, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Kashi and Xiamen, and the prize money range from 50,000 U.S. dollars to 250,000 U.S. dollars.

To encourage amateur players to take part in Monday Qualifying, the China LPGA Tour events will introduce preferential policies for them, including entry fee and practice fee refund.

"China LPGA Tour's core activity is to generate playing opportunities and increase prize money for Chinese players through the sanctioning of China LPGA Tour's events," said Zhang Xiaoning, CGA's deputy chairman and secretary general.

"I believe that China LPGA Tour will provide a high-level platform for Chinese players and will create more Chinese stars like JLPGA winner Zhang Na," he added.

Meanwhile, China LPGA Tour unveiled its logo, Money List, China Ladies Golf Ranking.