The 2024 LOTTE Championship at Hoakalei Moves to November for the First Time, Increases Purse to Three Million Dollars
The prestigious LPGA Tour event will welcome a 120-player field on November 6-9 in beautiful ʻEwa Beach, Oʻahu.
ʻEwa Beach, Oʻahu, HI (Thursday, October 24, 2024) - The LOTTE Group welcomes local residents, visitors and viewers across the globe to enjoy the excitement of the 2024 LOTTE Championship at the beautiful Hoakalei Country Club in ʻEwa Beach, Oʻahu, November 6-9. This is the 12th year for LOTTE to hold the title sponsorship of the only Hawaiʻi 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, Oʻahu, will be the sole player from Hawaiʻi in this year’s tournament. Hawaiʻi’s Michelle Wie won the tournament in 2014.
LOTTE Championship tickets are available for purchase 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 Golf Course Division will also host a tent featuring free activities like interactive golf games for keiki (children), spin-the-wheel prize giveaways for
all ages, and more. Tickets, directions, free parking & shuttle maps, and more information are available at https://www.lottechampionship.com/. Please carefully read the guidelines re cell phone use, photo/autograph policies, and the list of prohibited items on the website.
The Chairman of LOTTE Group, Dong-bin Shin, wanted to express his sincere mahalo to
Hawaiʻi “for sharing your beautiful home and aloha spirit with all of us” by also having a mission of giving back. Friends of Hawaiʻi Charities will be the charitable beneficiary of a donation from the LOTTE Championship this year. Friends of Hawaiʻi Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization created in 1998 to provide support for local not-for-profit programs that serve and benefit Hawaiʻi’s women, children, elderly, and impoverished. The tournament donated $100,000 for Maui Strong in 2023, and will continue to help raise funds for the Maui Strong campaign with a dedicated hole during the tournament. The 10th Hole will have a large “Maui” board with a QR code to encourage spectators, players, and viewers around the world to kōkua (help) Maui as they continue to struggle following the devastating wildfires last August.
The LOTTE Championship is also raising awareness of Hawai‘i’s endangered species with new graphics for this year’s tournament signage featuring the honu (Hawaiian green sea turtle), the ʻakikiki (Hawaiian honeycreeper), the koʻoloaʻula (flowering shrub with red hibiscus-shaped flowers), the ʻāhinahina (silversword), the Oʻahu 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, and NOMURA, Haseko Corporation, the State of Hawaiʻi, the Department of Business and Economic Development, Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, Hoakalei Country Club, Hirakawa Group, Friends of Hawaiʻi 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 & beverage available for purchase.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Sunday Pro-Am
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Professional practice
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5
LOTTE Pro-Am
2024 LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS, AVAILABLE ON SEATGEEK
NOVEMBER 6-9, 2024
$25 admission per day or $75 for all 3 days.
Food & beverage 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
VENUE: Hoakalei Country Club, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, USA
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Grace Kim (Australia)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6
All Day: Round 1
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7
All Day: Round 2
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8
All Day: Round 3
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9
All Day: Final Round
Awards Ceremony immediately following play.
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.
Hoakalei means "reflection of a lei" and comes from a Hawaiian legend about the volcano goddess Pele and her sister Hiʻiaka's journey across the island chain to retrieve Pele's lover Lohiʻau. In the story, Hiʻiaka crossed the ʻEwa Plain and came to see a reflection of herself in a spring while adorned with garlands of lehua blossoms - thus, the "reflection of a lei.” 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.
Additionally, the LPGA Foundation has empowered and supported girls and women since 1991, most notably through LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, the only national program of its kind, which annually engages with nearly 100,000 girls. The LPGA Amateur Golf Association and LPGA
Women’s Network provide virtual and in-person connections to female golfers around the world, while LPGA Professionals are educators, business leaders and game changers dedicated to growing the game of golf for everyone. 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 - the KLPGA LOTTE Open, and the U.S. - the LPGA LOTTE Championship. 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.
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