EWA BEACH, OAHU, HI, UNITED STATES, October 28, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — The LOTTE Group welcomes Hawaii residents, visitors and viewers across the globe to enjoy the excitement of the 2024 LOTTE Championship at the beautiful Hoakalei Country Club on Oahu, November 6-9. This is the 12th year for LOTTE to hold the title sponsorship of the only Hawaii event on the LPGA Tour schedule, and the first year the tournament will be held in November instead of April, adding even more exciting competition as final standings are decided at the end of the season. The LOTTE Championship will feature a field of 120 international players competing for an increased purse of $3 million – up from $2 million in 2023 – with $450,000 awarded to the winner, an increase over last year’s $300,000 prize money for the champion.
The 2023 LOTTE Championship winner, Grace Kim of Australia, will return to defend her title. In only her third start as a Tour rookie, Kim won her first LPGA title last year after a nail-biting three-woman playoff victory over Yu Liu and Yu Jin Sung. The then 22-year-old played assertively throughout the final round, with birdies on the last two holes in regulation, then another on the first extra hole to claim the championship.
Hyo Joo Kim of the Republic of Korea (2022 champion) and Brooke Henderson of Canada (2018 & 2019 champion) will also be among the elite international field of players. Others to watch are Hye Jin Choi (Republic of Korea), Ayaka Furue (Japan), and Jin Young Ko (Republic of Korea). This is also the first time the tournament will feature all four players on Team LOTTE: 2022 champion Hyo Joo Kim, Hye Jin Choi, You Min Hwang, and So Young Lee. Rookie Malia Nam of Kailua, Oahu, will be the sole player from Hawaii in this year’s tournament. Hawaii’s Michelle Wie won the tournament in 2014.
LOTTE Championship tickets are available online and during tournament week, November 3-9, at the main gate at Hoakalei Country Club. Cost is $25 per day or $75 for November 6-9. There will be free admission November 3-5, to watch the Pro-Am events and professional practice. The City and County of Honolulu will also host a tent featuring free activities daily like interactive golf games and spin-the-wheel prize giveaways. Tickets, directions, parking information and more are available at www.lottechampionship.com.
The Chairman of LOTTE Group, Dong-bin Shin, wanted to express his sincere mahalo to Hawaii “for sharing your beautiful home and aloha spirit with all of us” by also having a mission of giving back. Friends of Hawaii Charities (“Friends”) will be the charitable beneficiary of a donation from the LOTTE Championship. Friends is a 501(c)(3) organization created to provide support for local not-for-profit programs that serve and benefit Hawaii’s women, children, elderly, and impoverished. The tournament donated $100,000 for Maui Strong in 2023, and will continue to help raise funds this year. The 10th Hole will have a large “Maui” board with a QR code to encourage spectators, players, and viewers around the world to kokua (help) Maui as they continue to struggle following the devastating wildfires last August.
The LOTTE Championship is also raising awareness of Hawaii’s endangered species with new graphics for this year’s tournament signage featuring the honu (Hawaiian green sea turtle), the akikiki (Hawaiian honeycreeper), the kooloaula (flowering shrub with red hibiscus-shaped flowers), the ahinahina (silversword), the Oahu tree snail, and the Hawaiian monk seal. The newly designed tournament logo also bears the endangered albatross.
LOTTE Group would like to thank PepsiCo, BNK, LOTTE Card, MIZUHO Bank, NOMURA, Haseko Corporation, the State of Hawaii, the Department of Business and Economic Development, Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hoakalei Country Club, Hirakawa Group, Friends of Hawaii Charities, the LPGA, and all of the tournament volunteers.
2024 LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP PRE-TOURNAMENT EVENTS
NOVEMBER 3-5, 2024
Free admission; Free family activities; Food & beverages available for purchase.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Sunday Pro-Am
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Professional practice
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5
LOTTE Pro-Am
2024 LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
NOVEMBER 6-9, 2024 (Awards ceremony immediately following play on November 9.)
$25 admission per day or $75 for all 3 days. Food & beverages are available for purchase.
FORMAT: 4 Days, 72-Hole Stroke Play
FIELD: 120 LPGA Players
PURSE: $3,000,000 / CHAMPION $450,000
BROADCAST: THE GOLF CHANNEL /JTBC GOLF
ABOUT HOAKALEI COUNTRY CLUB
This is the third year Hoakalei Country Club will host the LOTTE Championship. The course was designed by former World No. 1 and four-time major champion Ernie Els and opened in 2009. It was built on a former sugar plantation and is located adjacent to the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point. According to Els, he considered the local trade winds when designing the layout, meaning that the course will play very differently according to which way the winds blow. For more information, please visit https://www.hoakaleicountryclub.com/.
ABOUT THE LPGA
Created in 1950 by 13 Founders, the Association celebrates a diverse and storied history. The LPGA Tour competes across the globe, reaching television audiences in more than 220 countries. The Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s official qualifying tour, consistently produces a pipeline of talent ready for the world stage. The LPGA also holds a joint-venture collaboration with the Ladies European Tour (LET), increasing playing opportunities for female golfers in Europe. Across the three Tours, the LPGA represents players in more than 60 countries. For more information, please visit https://www.lpga.com/.
ABOUT LOTTE GROUP
LOTTE Group is a South Korean multinational corporation, and the fifth-largest in South Korea. LOTTE was founded in 1948 and now consists of over 90 business units employing 60,000 people engaged in such diverse industries as retail, hotels, candy manufacturing, beverages, fast food, financial services, industrial chemicals, electronics, IT, construction, publishing, and entertainment in over 20 countries.
LOTTE Group is an active sponsor of women’s golf, hosting professional golf tournaments in Korea and the U.S. Team LOTTE, a women’s professional golf team sponsored by the LOTTE Group, currently has four players competing at an elite level in Korea and the U.S.
Mona K. Wood-Sword
KIZUNA INTERNATIONAL
+1 808-218-5546
mona@kizuna-intl.com
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