LONDON, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The 2010 Ladies European Tour golf schedule will contain 27 tournaments, four more than this season, the Tour said in a news release on Monday.

    Next season Tour will be staged in 20 countries including new stops in New Zealand, Morocco, Slovakia and China.

    The year will start with the inaugural New Zealand Open in Christchurch from Feb. 25-28.

    The next new event is the Meryem Cup in Morocco from March 18-20. The Slovak Open will be held from May 27-30 while the Anji King Valley Open is due to be played in China from Oct. 22-24.

    China will also continue to stage the Suzhou Taihu Open from Oct. 29-31. Royal Birkdale is to host the British Open from July 29-Aug 1.