PGA TOUR Extends Hawai‘i Partnership to Host Golf Tournaments to 2022

Kapalua’s Plantation Course will host more than 30 PGA pros at the Sentry Tournament of Champions January 3 to 7, 2018. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

A four-year extension has been reached with the PGA TOUR to continue supporting three championship golf tournaments in the Hawaiian Islands through 2022.

The renewal of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority’s official marketing partnership includes promotion of the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui, the Sony Open in Hawaiʻi on Oʻahu, and Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualālai on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

George D. Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority said “hour-after-hour of TV coverage provided by the Golf Channel will present an enticing incentive for viewers to plan a trip to their favorite island.” The backdrop of the islands comes to viewers at a time when many regions throughout the nation cope with chilly winter conditions.

The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority and PGA TOUR have been partners since 2001, with this year marking their 18th anniversary.

“January has become synonymous with amazing golf in Hawai‘i, with two PGA TOUR events and one PGA TOUR Champions event,” said Brian Oliver, PGA TOUR Executive Vice President Corporate Partnerships. “Our members have long enjoyed spending time in the Hawaiian Islands at the beginning of the year. We are pleased to extend our relationship with the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and to continue highlighting Hawai‘i as a golf paradise through our tournaments on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions.”

The sponsorship dates back to 2001 when the PGA TOUR and HTA, created by the state legislature to oversee Hawaiʻi’s multi-billion tourism industry, aligned to highlight Hawaiʻi’s professional golf tournaments as a marketing package that could serve as the promotional cornerstone for the state’s $1 billion golf industry.

The first PGA TOUR tournament held in Hawaiʻi was the 1965 Hawaiian Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, which was won by Gay Brewer. The first PGA TOUR Champions event in the state was held in 1987 at the Royal Kāʻanapali Golf Club North Course, won by Orville Moody.