In golf these days, the consensus is that you need more than the game itself.
Whether LIV DJs in the Tee box or the TGL TGL schedule format, to involve the youngest public, fans want more than a Tee to Green action.
In the female game, that's no different. Step: Hilton Grand Vacations champions tournament In Orlando.
At first glance, this four -day event in Sunshine State is the first game of the 2025 season for the best players in the world, but in reality it is much more.
First, this is just an invitation strictly. You can only play if you have won on the LPGA tour in the last two years, making the field who is who is the best on the planet. There are also no cuts, so the 32 players are locked throughout the weekend.
As if that were not enough, add 51 celebrities in all shapes and sizes to the mixture, playing next to professionals, and by their own $ 500,000 bag.
This is the modern game, the golf with steroids, and here in Orlando a storm is going down.
Lim Kim is presented with the Champions Trophy tournament for HGV Wang's CEO
Kim saw a late charge of Nelly Korda to seal her third victory in the LPGA Tour in Lake Nona
Former hockey professional Joe Pavelski won the celebrity tournament in a weekend full of stars
“Some of these celebrities are only massive human in general,” reflects the vice president of HGV sports marketing Aaron Stewart in a conversation with Mail sport. 'They are playing with LPGA pros that are half of their weight and height, but they are staggering in the golf course.
“It really highlights how great these professional players are and exposes a completely new audience to the game.”
Stewart is the son of the deceased and three main main champions, Payne Stewart, and the architect behind the first game of the HGV season in Lake Nona.
“Looking for celebrities draws a different set of spectators who are not just golf fans,” he explains. 'We have athletes from all the main sports. There are artists, actors, actresses, commentators, musicians, something for everyone.
“It's not like,” Oh, I'm just going to the golf course because I love golf and you can't have enough. “Oh, oh, I didn't realize that Creed drummer is playing in the tournament … That's great , I'll go see that. “
Larry, the type of cable, was the favorite of fans, with many going mass to see it during the four days
The NFL icon Charles Woodson and actor Alfonso Ribeiro Hug LPGA Pro Celine Boutier on 18
However, walking the course, it is clear that fans are not the only ones astonished by what is happening behind the strings.
On Saturday afternoon, the Taylor Twellman football icon delights with his 'dream come true' playing with the world number 1 Nelly Korda. 24 hours later, the star of the Solheim Cup, Angel Yin, takes out her phone to record Alfonso Ribeiro – Bel-Air's fresh prince Fame: play a shot from an almost impossible angle in depth in the rude in 18.
Carolina Panthers star of the NFL, Adam Thielen, meanwhile, depends on the 'consistency and the ball coup' on professionals. “You learn a lot from seeing these girls,” he tells Mail Sport. “They have been so impressive.”
The Super Bowl champion, Marcus Allen, summarizes it with his own reflexes, insisting: 'You want to be on this list of guests, friend. Seriously, you want to be on the guest list!
And he is right, because there are many more celebrities who are desperate to play in this event, but they have not had the call. Every year, the names become more famous, the bag becomes heavier and the crowds become larger.
Nelly Korda greets fans during the final round of competition, before finishing second
The Taylor Twellman football icon revealed that it was a “dream come true” to play with Korda
The HGV chief, Stewart, reveals: 'It is definitely one of the most difficult things, because it is not as if we had more points every year. So, if you want new names, someone else who had that great experience last year who could not receive the call this year.
'So it is definitely difficult in that sense, but it means that we are doing something right. More and more people show interest, and you are seeing possibly larger names in the field every year '.
A celebrity that will surely return for 2026 is the legend of the NHL Joe Pavelski, whose final score of +145 saw Jeff McNeil last year and earned him a $ 100,000 payment check in Green 18.
Next to him, legitimately a check three times the value, it was a limm of South Korea, who sealed his third victory on the LPGA tour in Lake Nona.
Korda is the biggest star in the female golf, but he left Victoria in Orlando
Adam Thielen was astonished from professionals while playing with them in the first game of the HGV LPGA season
On Saturday, Korda joked that his rival was 'playing a different golf course', but in the end his battle arrived just on the 18 .
And so, the 2025 season is underway, and with a four -day showcase of the best that this sport has to offer.
It is possible that the traditionalists do not like the DJ in the Green 18, or Larry, the type of cable, the pirate of the cart of the cart on the 12th, but it is an idea of the new face of the golf.
There is still a place for this great old game to be so special, but modern innovation is here, and bring many new fans. Get used to or leave it behind.