KAPALUA – The rebirth of the season-opening PGA Tour event at the Kapalua Plantation Course shifted into high gear with the announcements that Hyundai is the new title sponsor and will be in place for the next three years, and the event’s name will be the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

The event battled financial trouble for the last couple of years, leading to speculation that it could be leaving Kapalua or even the state. Thursday’s announcement from Hyundai Motor America and Seoul Broadcasting System International relieves those concerns.

SBS – the title sponsor 10 months ago – will continue to provide television coverage to South Korea through 2019, as it has done for PGA Tour events for more than 15 years.

”Was I worried that the event might not be staying in Hawaii? Yes I was,” tournament director Nancy Cross said Thursday. ”I am happy that a new title sponsor has stepped up. We knew that SBS had the ability to sell it, so we were curious slash concerned when that might be happening, to whom, all those sort of things.”

Mercedes was in the tournament name from 1999, when the event moved to Kapalua, to 2009.

Calling the event the Tournament of Champions reintroduces its original name. The event, which began in 1953 and has also been played in Nevada and California, includes only PGA Tour tournament winners from the prior season.

Mark Rolfing, an analyst for The Golf Channel and a longtime Kapalua resident, has been pushing for changes to the event’s eligibility rules for years, but not anymore. Rolfing’s foundation, the Mark and Debi Rolfing Charitable Foundation, is the new host of the tournament, having taken over for Kapalua Maui Charities over the summer. The tour requires that a nonprofit organization host its events.

“The Tournament of Champions name is going to change a lot of things,” Rolfing said. “A question I would get all the time is, ‘What is the Mercedes Championships? What is the SBS?’ Sometimes I didn’t even know how to answer other than to say, ‘Well, it is the Tournament of Champions.’ I had a few people say, ‘So why don’t you call it that?’

“You have to start with the players. If the players view it as the Tournament of Champions as opposed to the Mercedes or SBS championships, that goes a long way. Rocco (Mediate) called me two days after he won his tournament recently and he was so excited to come back to Kapalua and not as an announcer. I told him about the name change and he said, ‘You mean I am in the Tournament of Champions now? That is even more cool.’ ”

Rolfing has plans to invigorate the start of the season in several ways – including a long-drive contest, a festival for the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association, a professional-celebrity shootout and interactive fan zones – but he announced that the tournament itself will remain grounded in its tradition.

“There has been enough improvement that I am no longer going to pursue an eligibility change,” he said. “We have got what we want – most importantly a new dynamic sponsor that is in tune with the Tournament of Champions.”

For the first time, admission will be free for every part of the tournament, an unprecedented move according to PGA Tour media officials.

“That was one of the really positive things for them,” Rolfing said of Hyundai. “They want to immediately become involved with the community. They went out and went to see people all over the island as they were becoming involved with all of this. They love the community aspect of this, that we are raising money for a myriad of charities on Maui that are really in need here. They love that we are really reaching out to the entire island, not just Kapalua.”

One element Rolfing unveiled on Thursday was a two-hour special on The Golf Channel on Jan. 5 that will preview the season and FedEx Cup.

“On Wednesday of tournament week we are going to have a launch to the season live in prime time, a two-hour show on The Golf Channel that will generate a huge audience,” he said. “The bowl games end Tuesday, the (NFL) playoffs start Saturday, so this will have the sporting world’s attention. This whole thing is going to happen up on the Plantation Course with PGA Tour players and celebrities and entertainment. A season launch with all the elements to launch the season with a bang, instead of just starting the season on Thursday morning.”

The tour appears to be happy with the contracts.

“We are delighted to welcome Hyundai to the PGA Tour family,” tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a news release. “In our discussions, Hyundai expressed interest in continuing its brand momentum throughout the U.S., as well as further strengthening its position in Asia. This title sponsorship will help accomplish these goals.”

Hyundai is expanding its luxury-car presence with the introduction of the Equus.

“Hyundai’s title sponsorship of the PGA Tour’s traditional season-opening tournament aligns our brand with world-class athletes who mirror our own competitive drive,” said John Krafci, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America.

When play begins in January, Geoff Ogilvy will try to win the event for a third consecutive time.

Tiger Woods played in the tournament the first seven times it was held at Kapalua, winning in 2000, but has not been back for five years, though eligible each time. He has not won an event in 2010.

Cross and former tournament chairman Gary Planos are no longer employed by Kapalua. Planos is a consultant for the event.

“When (Kapalua Maui Charities) decided not to manage the event anymore, there was no need to have an events department, so it was eliminated,” Cross said. “Luckily some of us have been hired back on by the new host organization.”

Rolfing stressed that Planos, chairman of the tournament all 12 times it has been played on Maui, will always be a key figure in the event.

“He is going to be one of the ambassadors,” Rolfing said. “I hope he comes back every year.”

Rolfing said he had never seen a switch between title and secondary sponsorship like the one SBS and Hyundai made.

“There are a number of different opportunities out there, but they chose this one because they could see the potential,” Rolfing said of Hyundai. “They loved the beginning of the season, they loved opening in Hawaii, they loved the Tournament of Champions aspect. They were looking at other options, that is why it took so long.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

Article from: The Maui News

Article from The Maui News

KAANAPALI – Defending Champions Skins Game winners Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson will play in the event again next month, the Royal Kaanapali Course announced Friday. 

On kaanapaliresort.com, an image of a poster showed three other teams – Nick Price and Fred Couples; Bernhard Langer and Mark O’Meara; and Fuzzy Zoeller and Ben Crenshaw. The event is scheduled for Jan. 29-30.

Nicklaus, who has won 18 PGA Tour major titles, and Watson, who has eight, claimed 10 skins and $350,000 last year. They also won the event together in 2007 at the Wailea Gold Course.

In all, Nicklaus has won the senior skins event four times, and Watson three. The tournament began in 1988.

Langer has received the last three Champions Tour player of the year awards, and is a two-time Masters winner. O’Meara won the Masters and British Open in 1998. Price has three PGA Tour major titles, and Couples is a former Masters winner. Zoeller, a two-time PGA Tour major champ, was part of the Champions Skins Game’s winning team in 2008, with Peter Jacobsen, and 2009, when he and Crenshaw, a two-time Masters winner, split an event-record $530,000.

Also on Friday, Kaanapali announced the event will have three presenting sponsors – Fuzzy’s Vodka, a brand owned by Zoeller, as well as Administaff, a personnel-management company, and Time Warner Cable.

Wendy’s is no longer the title sponsor – the fast-food company had been from 2004 until last year.

_______________

CHAMPIONS SKINS WINNERS ON MAUI

At Wailea Gold Course

2001-Hale Irwin

2002-Hale Irwin

2003-Lee Trevino

2004-Tom Watson

2005-Jack Nicklaus

2006-Dana Quigley

2007-Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson

At Royal Kaanapali Course

2008-Fuzzy Zoeller and Peter Jacobsen

2009-Fuzzy Zoeller and Ben Crenshaw

2010-Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson

 

APEC leaders meeting » When: Nov. 12-13, 2011 » Attending: Heads of state of 21 largest economies in Asia-Pacific region; 1,000 business leaders, 2,000 journalists; up to 17,000 others » Impact: $120 million in economic activity » Information: www.apec2011hawaii.com

That was the message from Monica Whaley, president of the National Center for APEC, who spoke yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii’s 2010 policy summit at the Sheraton Waikiki Resort. 

APEC will bring heads of state from the 21 largest economies in the Asia-Pacific region to Hawaii next November. The event is expected to generate some $120 million in economic activity for Hawaii while boosting the state’s image as a premier location for business conferences.

About 15,000 to 20,000 will attend the event, including about 1,000 business leaders from the region and 2,000 journalists.

Hawaii businesses have an opportunity to connect with potential customers throughout the region at the CEO summit that runs concurrent with the APEC leaders meeting.

“The CEO summit is a little bit like Davos,” said Whaley, referring to the annual World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland. “Meeting someone in your industry might result in a deal.”

The event will include an “idea fair” for businesses to show off their most innovative concepts, said Whaley.

Opportunities to participate include meeting with business leaders, getting a message out to the media and being a part of the host country’s local reception.

Journalists coming to Hawaii for the event will have a lot of downtime when heads of state are meeting privately. This gives local businesses an opportunity to take reporters on tours of their facilities to generate coverage of Hawaii around the region, Whaley said.

Local companies can “showcase that Hawaii is a place for business,” Whaley said.

The local host committee will be putting on a reception which is always well attended, she said. That’s another chance for local businesses to communicate with regional executives.

Whaley suggested that local companies get involved with the host committee, which is chaired by Bank of Hawaii CEO Peter Ho. Gregg Yamanaka, former president of MC&A, is the host committee’s CEO. Other members include: Mike McCartney, president of the Hawaii Tourism Authority; Patricia Loui, president of OmniTrak Group Inc.; Stanley Kuriyama, CEO of Alexander and Baldwin; and Bert “BJ” Kobayashi Jr., CEO of Kobayashi Group.

The most lasting benefit for local businesses from APEC might be the boost to the meetings and convention industry, which has been lagging since the 2008 economic collapse.

If people come to Hawaii and have a first-class experience, there will be no end to the effect on businesses deciding to host future meetings here, said Whaley.