LET Appoints Helen Alfredsson as Player President and Mark Lichtenhein as Chairman

Helen Alfredsson

The Ladies European Tour has appointed Helen Alfredsson as Player President and Mark Lichtenhein as Chairman of the Board of Directors effective December 11, 2016.

In the newly created role of Player President, Helen Alfredsson will be an ambassador for the Ladies European Tour and will work closely with the CEO, Chairman and the Players’ Council to promote the organisation, acting as a bridge between the Board and Members.

A Life Member of the LET, Helen joined the Tour in 1989 and competed for 25 seasons before stepping away from competitive play at the LET’s 2013 Helsingborg Open in her native Sweden. During her time as a player, she accumulated 21 worldwide tournament victories, including one Major: the 1993 Nabisco Dinah Shore, as well as her first win at the 1990 Women’s British Open and three Evian Masters titles.

Helen participated in eight Solheim Cups, including the inaugural competition in 1990 and made her last appearance in 2009, after she captained the 2007 European team at Halmstad.

Commenting on her new role of Player President, Helen said: “I am honoured to be the first President of the Ladies European Tour and am very excited about this opportunity to work as part of the team with the CEO and Chairman. Our diverse skills complement each other and together we can bring a fresh approach to the LET and build a stronger tour together. I’m thrilled to be able to give something back to the tour after all these years and to be able to represent the membership as its President.”

As Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mark Lichtenhein will be responsible for further developing the Tour and its international business activities. He brings considerable commercial experience to the role, having worked for the PGA European Tour for 16 years, during which time he was pivotal in delivering the European Tour’s global television product including The Ryder Cup to all international markets. A keen supporter of the Ladies European Tour, Mark worked closely with the organisation on a number of projects before joining the LET Board of Directors in December 2015. Mark is also the current Chairman of the Sports Rights Owners Coalition (SROC).

Commenting on his appointment, Mark Lichtenhein said: “It’s a great privilege to be elected LET Chairman at this exciting time for women’s golf, particularly given golf’s unique position as the only Olympic sport that Europe plays together as a team. I look forward to working closely with the Board and the Tour’s executives to build on the opportunities that are now open to us.”

The CEO of the Ladies European Tour, Ivan Khodabakhsh, welcomed both appointments. “The unanimous decision by all Directors to choose Helen Alfredsson as Player President and Mark Lichtenhein as Chairman is excellent news for our organisation. Their combined management expertise, commercial experience, strength of character and influence in the world of golf will give everyone within our Tour and connected to us great confidence. I am delighted to personally welcome Helen as our President and Mark as our new Chairman and I look forward to working with them both as we continue to build on the success of the Ladies European Tour both at home in Europe and around the world on behalf of the membership.”

The Ladies European Tour Board of Directors now comprises of Player Directors Helen Alfredsson, Beth Allen, Sophie Giquel Bettan, Rebecca Hudson, Trish Johnson and Pamela Pretswell, CEO Ivan Khodabakhsh and Non-Executive Directors Vivek Batra, Mark Lichtenhein and Michael Siebold.