The ladies playing at the World Ladies Championships this week swapped their playing attire for cocktail dresses when they attended the Official Opening Ceremony at Mission Hills, Haikou.

In a week of film stars walking the red carpet at the Oscars in Hollywood, the cocktail dresses added real glamour to the Opening Ceremony and also gave the girls a chance to relax away from the golf course.

Nikki Garrett, a leading professional golfer representing Australia in the team event, was delighted: “It’s great to get out of our golf kit and glam up sometimes. We are so focused on our sport that an evening like this allows us do something different and enjoy ourselves.”

While the girls attended the official reception, the film theme carried on elsewhere. A Pro-Am event was going on out on the course appropriately featuring Hong Kong movie star Simon Yam as well as other celebrities like former snooker World Champions Mark Williams and Stephen Hendry.

To see the gallery of off-course player images click here