Two LPGA stars made a whirlwind stop Monday to Rich Harvest Farms to start the countdown for biggest sporting event ever to take place in Kane County.

LPGA stars Belen Mozo and Minjee Lee joined corporate sponsors and local dignitaries to help kick off the “One Year Countdown” to the LPGA’s 2016 UL International Crown at host-site Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

To be entirely accurate, the one-year countdown to this newly minted international golf event started July 19, but the Monday event toasted the first day people could buy weekly tickets, which for now are available exclusively on www.ULCROWN.com. Weekly grounds ticket prices start at $99 and upgraded grounds tickets in the International Pavilion are available for $195. Volunteer registration for the event is open, as well, so if you’d like to get inside the ropes and join the fun, visit www.ULCROWN.com for more information.

There’s a lot of talk these days about the good place that professional golf finds itself, with the rise of the modern-day “Big Three”: Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy, but it’s worth noting that women’s professional golf is enjoying its own halcyon days — and Kane County is playing a role in its next big step forward.

During Monday’s media day, LPGA Chief Communications Officer Kraig Kann — a Chicago-area native and media personality who helped launch the Golf Channel — counted the ways.

Kann said today’s LPGA Tour features a hugely talented global group of professional athletes who compete in 32 official money events in 13 countries. Of the more than 460 LPGA Tour members, 128 are international members representing 27 countries. He said the purses and galleries are the biggest they’ve ever been, the talent is the best it has ever been and the television time and social media hits have doubled and doubled again over the past couple years.

Kann called on the media to help evangelize for Chicago golf and get the word out about the international event.

“We need the next generation to care about golf in Chicago. We need to support people like Jerry Rich,” he said. “This is the launch of something truly special.”

Rich, of course, is the self-made businessman who designed the 18-hole ultra-private course in Sugar Grove that’s ranked among “America’s Top 100 Greatest Courses.” Rich underlined Monday that the timing of the International Crown is worthy of note, because it hints at the role that Kane County is playing on the international stage as well as the big-shouldered economic impact it can realize for the Chicago area.

“When we hosted the Solheim Cup in 2009, all the hotels from Aurora to Chicago were full,” he said. “And if we could get 11,000 Europeans to travel here for the Solheim Cup, we can get 50,000 people from around the world to the International Crown. There’s no reason we can’t get 200,000 fans to this event.”

Both Rich and Kann emphasized that the International Crown will be the only professional golf event in the Chicago area in 2016. No Western Open, no FedEx Cup playoffs, no other PGA or USGA presence in this major market. On top of that, the event is a prelude to the first Olympics to feature golf as a competitive event since 1904. The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is scheduled to be held in August at a new course to be built in the Reserva de Marapendi.

“This city has a chance to jump into the spotlight,” Kann said. “This is going to be unbelievable.”

The International Crown will be fueled by the passion and panache of the women who play the game.

Mozo, a member of Team Spain, which won the inaugural International Crown with so much emotion and style in 2014 at Caves Valley Golf Club outside Baltimore, and Lee, a member of Team Australia at last year’s event, are two good examples. Mozo is just flat-out charming, with made-for-TV good looks and personality. Lee’s game (No. 15 in the Rolex world rankings) speaks for itself as well as the rise of Australia as a potential powerhouse in both the men’s and women’s game.