Director, KLPGA; women’s golf legend, Seri Pak; Hana Financial Group Chairman, Jung-tai Kim; Singapore Golf
Association President, Ross Tan; and President of Tanah Merah Country Club, Ho Beng Huat at the launch of
the inaugural Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open.
Hana Financial Group has announced the introduction of the Singapore Women’s Open 2020. Co-sanctioned by the Singapore Golf Association and the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association, the tourney will be hosted at the Tanah Merah Country Club and establishes a national women’s title in Singapore, a key facet of Hana Financial Group’s drive to develop Women’s golf in the region.
World Number 9 Minjee Lee of Australia headlines the field, joined by former World Number 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand and up-and-coming golfers including American Yealimi Noh, Paphangkorn Tavatanakit of Thailand and China’s Sui Xiang.
World Golf Hall-of-Famer Seri Pak will be part of the organising committee of the event that will feature rising stars from Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Hana Financial Group is the title sponsor of the inaugural Singapore Women’s Open 2020 (SWO) that will see some of Asia’s best golfers battle for the KRW1,000,000,000 (US$ 864,000) purse.
The Group is firmly rooted in the sport of golf, having been a title sponsor of events on the LPGA, KLPGA, KPGA & Asian Tour since 2005.
The Group’s backing of the SWO illustrates a deeper dive into golf in Asia, representing its commitment to develop the women’s game in the region, a move matching its own business expansion into countries like China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Hana Financial Group has 167 branches across the Asia Pacific, including 72 in Indonesia, where they are ranked among the top 20 of banks in the country. The Group’s focused move into the region has also seen it acquire 15% of BIDV, Vietnam’s largest lender, just last November, to become BIDV’s first foreign strategic shareholder.
Sports Marketing Director of Hana Financial Group, Paul Park said: “We are proud to be involved with the creation of a national title in Singapore even though we are not based here. Our aim is to build the best women’s professional golf tournament in Asia to develop women’s golf in the region.”
With Asia being the centre of women’s golf in the world, five-time golf major winner, Seri Pak is thrilled that HFG has helped conceive a new national title in the region and will provide the utmost support to this tournament.
“To chase my dream of being the best, I had to move to the US as a young golfer who couldn’t speak English. I was alone in a country with different food, culture and it wasn’t easy,” said the five-time golf major winner.
“While it helped me grow as an individual, I’m glad to be part of a movement to give young golfers a more comfortable platform to chase their dreams, to provide more women from our continent the opportunity to showcase the quality that already exists in Asia,” she added.
Tanah Merah Country Club President Ho Beng Huat is delighted to welcome some of the best women golfers in the region and beyond to the Club’s newly redeveloped Tampines course.
He said: “Tanah Merah Country Club has a long tradition of supporting women’s golf and has in the past hosted the Kosaido Asahi Ladies Championship, Lexus Cup, HSBC Women‘s Champions (now renamed the HSBC Women’s World Championships) and Queen Sirikit Cup. TMCC is very pleased to continue this tradition with the Singapore Women’s Open in 2020.
“The new Tampines course is designed for championship play and we can look forward to seeing some fine display of golfing skill by the top lady golfers as they play the challenging layout.”
Upon being awarded the rights by SGA to stage this tournament, Managing Director of sports marketing agency Mediapro Asia, Lars Heidenreich, is confident that organisers and the Tanah Merah Country Club will be able to put on a show worthy of the golf talent that will feature in it.
Together with SGA, Mediapro Asia will be promoting and managing all commercial aspects of the tournament which will now become a regular feature on the calendars of the SGA and KLPGA.
“Singapore’s Tanah Merah Country Club is a perfect venue to host a tournament of this stature. The club has hosted some big golf tournaments in the past, and we have no doubt that both players and fans will enjoy the experience of catching Asia’s best and brightest up close at the Tampines Course,” he said.
“There will be quality golf and we’re expecting some high octane drama before we crown the first Singapore Women’s Open Champion in November.”
SGA President Ross Tan added: “We are excited to have our first Singapore Women’s Open with our co-sanction partner KLPGA and title sponsor Hana Financial Group. It will provide an excellent opportunity for our local women golfers, both professional and amateur, as they will all stand a chance to compete on one of the professional women’s golf tours in the world.”