Rakuten links up with new JLPGA golf tournament
Rakuten is hitting the links again with a new title sponsorship of a Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association of Japan (JLPGA) tournament.
Set to tee off this year as part of a three-year agreement, the Rakuten Super Ladies golf tournament will take place from July 29-31 at the Tokyu Grand Oak Golf Club in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture. The tournament is the first outside of official JLPGA Majors competition to be hosted by the JLPGA, and offers a total purse of 80 million JPY, with the winner taking home 14.4 million JPY.
Rakuten-sponsored star Mone Inami hitting new heights
Recently, Rakuten also made headlines in the Japanese professional golf scene when it announced the sponsorship of its first professional golfer, Mone Inami, last month.
The 21-year old sensation has continued to take the golf world by storm, winning yet again at the Chukyo TV-Bridgestone Ladies Open, held May 21-23. In a signature performance, Inami carded a 61 on the first day of the tournament, tying a JLPGA tour record for the lowest score over an 18-hole round.
In the process, Inami recorded a staggering 13 birdies, beating the previous record of 11 birdies in a single round. With the win, her sixth of the current season, the rising star has seen her JLPGA ranking hit number two while watching her world ranking jump nine spots to number 22 as of May 27, 2021.
A growing sports family
Rakuten has long valued the unique and impactful role sports play in society, as owner of professional baseball team Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and J.League football club Vissel Kobe.
On the world stage, the company’s visibility in the world of global sports has steadily grown since it began sponsoring the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in 2009. Since then, Rakuten has become the Main Global Partner of legendary soccer club FC Barcelona, partnered with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and more recently entered the elite of soccer clubs in Asia.
But in fact, Rakuten’s connection to golf tournaments dates back even further, all the way to 2005, when it sponsored the Rakuten Ladies Cup tournament on the LPGA Step Up Tour in Japan.
Rakuten GORA continues to innovate the golf reservation industry
Rakuten launched its popular Rakuten GORA golf course reservation service in 2004. The handy service, which boasts access to nearly 1,900 golf courses across Japan and offers customers everything from golf course reservations and group competition bookings to lesson reservations, has also gained attention for its innovative use of drones for virtual tours of various courses.
Fans interested in getting a birds-eye view of The Tokyu Grand Oak Golf Club can visit the club’s page on Rakuten GORA for hole-by-hole flyovers of the picturesque Japanese highlands course.
With two months to go until the Rakuten Super Ladies golf tournament, the countdown has begun.
