Choi Kyung-ju, Lee Dae-ho, Choo Sung-hoon, and Park Ji-eun 'Field Deployment'

Event Gifts at SK Telecom Charity Open
Park Sang-hyun, Kim Han-byeol, Kim Ha-neul, and Choi Na-yeon Join

Ahead of the opening of the Korean Professional Golf Association (KPGA) Korean Tour SK Telecom Open, the SK Telecom Charity Open will be held on the 17th at Pinx Golf Club in Seogwipo, Jeju Island.

This is the second edition of the tournament. Sponsored by the credit card company American Express, the winner's prize money has increased from 30 million won last year to 50 million won. This year, players who participated last year such as Choi Kyung-ju, Park Ji-eun, Kim Han-byeol, Park Sang-hyun, and Kim Ha-neul will be joined by Choi Na-yeon, who retired from the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour last year, "Korean cleanup hitter" Lee Dae-ho, and martial arts star Chu Sung-hoon, adding to the event's prestige.

K.J. Choi, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Dae-ho Lee, and Ji-eun Park (from left) will participate in the SK Telecom Charity Open.

Teams of two players each will compete in groups for a total prize of 20 million won in a skins game format. All prize money earned by the players will be donated in the name of the respective players. SK Telecom will use these funds to host the 2nd SK Telecom Adaptive Open for athletes with developmental disabilities in the second half of this year. Since last year, SK Telecom has been sponsoring professional golfer Lee Seung-min, who has a developmental disability. Additionally, in October last year, SK Telecom held the SK Telecom Adaptive Open in collaboration with the Korea Intellectual Disability Golf Association.

This year’s SK Telecom Open will take place over four days starting on the 18th at Pinx Golf Club. A total of 147 players will compete for a total prize money of 1.3 billion won. Defending champion Kim Bi-o, KPGA’s all-time leading money winner Park Sang-hyun, and last year’s Order of Merit winner Kim Young-soo will all participate. The happiness birdie fund accumulated by players in this tournament will be used for scholarships.