(LAHAINA, HI) – Ka’anapali Golf Courses – managed by Billy Casper Golf – will sponsor Honolulu-born LPGA Tour player Stephanie Kono for the balance of the 2012 season.
Earning full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2012 via Qualifying School, Kono is in her first full-season and Ka’anapali will serve as her home course. Kono will be featured in resort promotions and events, and display the Ka’anapali logo on her golf bag and apparel. She will compete in this week’s Tour event, the LPGA LOTTE Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii.
A Hawaii native, Kono registered several tournament wins at an early age before playing on UCLA women’s golf team. In 2010, she went 2-1-1 as a member of the wining U.S. Curtis Cup team and competed in the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Women’s Open Championship.
“Ka’anapali supports the dreams of Hawaii youth,” says Ed Kageyama, PGA General Manager of Ka’anapali Golf Courses. “Stephanie is already an outstanding ambassador for Ka’anapali and the game of golf.”
“I’m thrilled Ka’anapali is a sponsor for my rookie season on the LPGA Tour,” says Kono. “The resort has strong ties to the local community, an excellent junior program and has hosted LPGA Tour events.”
The Royal Ka’anapali Course, a Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design, opened in 1962 and has tested the skills of professional and amateur golfers. A par-71, 6,700-yard layout, the Royal Course combines wide fairways and undulating greens, making it distinctive, demanding and exciting, hole to hole. With more than 45 years of tournament history, the Royal Course has hosted many of golf’s greatest legends: Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper and Jan Stephenson.
The Ka’anapali Kai Course – a par-70, 6,400-yard gem – places an emphasis on proper club selection and placement off the tee, allowing for a better approach shot into the large, bunker-protected greens.
The golf courses underwent a $13 million renovation in 2005-2006 and the Royal Course was given a 4.5-star rating (out of five) by Golf Digest in the magazine’s recent “Best Places to Play” guide. Ka’anapali was selected by The Golf Channel to host “Big Break Ka’anapali” that aired in 2008 and the Royal Course was ranked No. 11 “Best Tour Course You can Play” by Golfweek magazine in 2009.
For more information about Ka’anapali or to reserve a tee time: www.kaanapaligolfcourses.com, 808.661.3691.
About Billy Casper Golf
Owner-operator of more than 130 golf courses, country clubs and resorts, BCG holds the second largest domestic portfolio. The company provides turnkey club management and favorable returns on investments for public-agency and private owners, developers and investors. Founded more than 20 years ago in cooperation with golf legend Billy Casper and headquartered in Vienna, VA, regional offices are strategically convenient to courses’ locales.
A division of BCG, Buffalo Communications is the leading global golf-lifestyle public relations, branding, marketing-communications, graphics and strategic services firm. Client-partners include the LPGA, PGA National Resort & Spa, Sea Pines Resort, Fila Golf, Kaua’i Visitors Bureau, ECCO, Club Glove, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday and Mission Hills Resort (China).
For more information: www.billycaspergolf.com, www.buffalocommunications.com, 703.761.1444.
Contact:
Nick Lashinsky
Billy Casper Golf / Buffalo Communications
703.891.3324
nlashinsky@billycaspergolf.com
www.buffalocommunications.com
www.billycaspergolf.com
Melissa Ludwig
Ka’anapali Golf Courses
808.357.7248
mludwig@kaanapaligolfcourses.com
