THE best women golfers in Europe are to take on the pick of the senior male players in a new £150,000 matchplay challenge event in Portugal later this year.

The Praia D'El Rey European Cup will be held from November 14th to 16th and take the form of a Solheim Cup/Ryder Cup style match with 10 players from the WPG European Tour competing against 10 from the PGA European Seniors Tour.

The first eight players from the respective Orders of Merit will automatically qualify for the tournament at the new Praia D'El Rey course near Obidos with the team captain selecting the remaining two members.

The new tournament has been welcomed by all parties and Terry Coates, chairman and chief executive of the women's tour, said: "I am in no doubt that the Solheim Cup/Ryder Cup type format chosen for this event will produce three days of enthralling competition with unlimited tension and excitement."

Andy Stubbs, PGA European Seniors Tour managing director, said: "Competition is certain to be fierce amongst the senior professionals to qualify for the team and we look forward to an exciting match.

"The prospect of former Ryder Cup pairings being re established is fascinating and it will be interesting to see how these fare against successful Solheim Cup combinations formed over recent years."

Praia D'El Rey president Stuart Swycher added: "We have taken considerable efforts to produce one of the leading links courses in Europe and we believe the exciting competition format will compliment our challenging course which requires a wide range of shot making abilities."