JEDDAH: Golf Saudi and Spain’s La Reserva Club de Sotogrande joined forces at Aramco Team Series Sotogrande this week to offer 100 women and girls the chance to start a golf journey that could see them playing alongside star players in 2023. Golf Saudi launched its Ladies First Club in 2020, introducing golf to women in the Kingdom and encouraging them to keep playing the sport. The initiative at La Reserva Club Sotogrande is international, and women will get the chance to play golf for the first time. The Ladies First Club International will feature free beginner golf lessons by experts from both Golf Saudi and La Reserva on Friday and Saturday.  The club’s top practice facilities will prepare the newcomers for expert practice. They will then be invited to continue playing golf by enrolling in a program that will continue through next summer. Participants who want to join Ladies First Club International at La Reserva Club can sign up in person at the event. Until the Aramco Team Series Sotogrande returns to La Reserva Club in 2023, the long-term strategy will give participating women and girls access to at least one free lesson each month. The goal is for women from the program to have the opportunity to play with top Ladies European Tour players in the tournament’s official pro-am. Majed Al-Sorour, deputy chairman and CEO of Golf Saudi and Saudi Golf Federation, said: “It is exciting that we’re using the success of Golf Saudi’s Ladies First Club in Saudi Arabia to continue driving interest and participation in golf internationally.” He said: “The central ambition of the initiative is for as many women as possible to take up golf and then continue to play the sport that has the potential to be life-enhancing in so many ways. Kicking off this initiative with La Reserva Club de Sotogrande and the Aramco Team Series is a great platform to raise awareness and inspire more newcomers to the sport — and win an amazing chance to play with the pros next year.”