The PGA Tour launches its 2025 season here in Hawaiʻi right after the new year with three back-to-back golf tournaments.
Local business leaders will be on the course as sponsors, players in the pro-am and just to network.
The best golfers in the world tee off in two weeks at The Sentry on Maui. It’s a tournament of champions at The Plantation Course in Kapalua, and there are plenty of exclusive experiences planned to surprise and delight visitors.
But Maui residents can experience the excitement for as little as $50. That’s thanks to Hawaiian Host Group, whose Mauna Loa macadamia nut brand sponsors the kamaʻāina tickets.
Hawaiian Host CEO Ed Schultz said his company sponsors the kamaʻāina tickets so that local residents can have the same access to a world-class golf event as visitors — at a lower cost.
Dozens of other Hawaiʻi companies also sponsor PGA Tour events – which include the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club and the Mitsubishi Electric Championship on Hawaiʻi Island.
It’s not just sponsorships. Business leaders get to rub elbows with the pros during each event’s pro-am. And then there are the hospitality tents where a lot of networking gets done.
Big Island Candies CEO Allan Ikawa estimated he’s played in as many as 70 pro-ams over the years. And he’ll hit the links in January for the Sony Open.
Ikawa said he learned this lesson early on — Hawaiʻi is a place where you network through golf.
