New tournament will be first LPGA or PGA TOUR event hosted in New Zealand
NAPLES, Fla., November 16, 2016 - The LPGA Tour is headed to New Zealand next year for the MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open. The event is set to take place September 28-October 1, 2017 at the Windross Farm Golf Course in Auckland and will lead into the LPGA’s fall Asia swing.
The MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open, which will boast a $1.3 million purse, will mark the first LPGA or PGA TOUR event to take place in New Zealand.
“The MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open will be a tremendous addition to the LPGA schedule in 2017 and beyond,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “We’re excited to extend our global reach, partner with a great company like MCKAYSON, and enable our Tour Players and global television viewers to experience the beauty of New Zealand.”
New Zealand Golf and its promoter The Clubhouse (NZ) Ltd have reached a significant title sponsorship agreement with MCS Holdings Inc. which owns the apparel and accessory sports brand MCKAYSON.
MCKAYSON is a newly launched global brand offering high quality sportswear created using its own unique design team, a high level of technology and powerful sourcing capability throughout the world.
“We are pleased to become the title sponsor of the MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open and play an integral part in a new tournament on the LPGA Tour,” said MCS Holdings Inc Chairman Min Cheol Kim. “MCS Holdings Inc will utilize this sponsorship as a means for extensive promotion and marketing to build MCKAYSON as a successful international brand in the global market. The company also believes it has a social responsibility to the game of golf through its sponsorship which offers both tangible and intangible benefits to both our company and New Zealand.”
The announcement today is the culmination of a two-year vision to attract one of the world’s biggest women’s sporting organizations to New Zealand.
“The opportunity to bring the LPGA to New Zealand has been made possible by fantastic sponsorship,” said The Clubhouse (NZ) Ltd managing director, Michael Goldstein. “From MCKAYSON stepping in as title sponsor to the support from Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), we thank them for sharing our vision.”
“The tournament allows us to work with Government to showcase Auckland to wider high-value tourism markets like those in China, Japan, South Korea, the US, Australia and the UK,” Auckland Mayor Phil Goff added. “The media exposure alone in the high value markets will reach millions of people. The coverage we get from this will help grow golfing tourism to the benefit of Auckland.”
The announcement will present a historic first opportunity for Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko to compete in an LPGA event in her home city of Auckland.
“I am so excited with this announcement to bring the LPGA to my hometown in Auckland,” said Ko. “I am honored to be the first player to sign up to play. It is going to be amazing for me and my family to host my LPGA friends in my country. I want to see golf grow in New Zealand and more women playing the game, so this news today is fantastic.”
The tournament, established in 2009 and co-sanctioned on the Ladies European Tour (LET) the following year, will continue to build upon the growth of golf in New Zealand. More than $500 million has been invested in new golf facilities over the past 15 years, including the Brett Thomson and Phil Tataurangi-designed Windross Farm Golf Club which will host the Women’s Open.
Tickets will go on sale early next year, with more details to be released in the coming weeks. For more information on the event please visit: www.nzwomensopen.com.
)
)
)
)
