(Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) – Organizers of the ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match-Play Championship presented by PXG today announced that INK! (Investing in Kids) will be the tournament’s Official Charity Partner. INK! will be the singular beneficiary of the INK! Charity Pro-am at The Orca and will be recognized throughout the unique two-week women’s professional golf tournament, with several other fundraising initiatives on its behalf.
INK!’s mission is to raise funds for public education in underserved communities throughout St. Johns County, Fla. where the tournament is being held. The unique, two-week tournament series for female professional players will take place at World Golf Village from October 25 until November 5. The Orca is also a collaboration with Generation W to celebrate women’s initiatives inside and outside the ropes.
The INK! Charity Pro-am at The Orca will be held on October 25, 2021 on King & Bear Golf Course at World Golf Village. Each team of three amateurs will play with one of the Professional players in the tournament in a scramble format. The Professional’s ball will be in play off the tee, with amateurs able to choose her ball location over their own. There will be 32 teams competing in the Pro-am. Team price is $2500, and all proceeds will go to INK! Several other sponsorship and fundraising opportunities will be available, including a silent auction featuring golf and non-golf related items like trips and sports memorabilia. The INK Charity Pro-am at The Orca will feature a Meet the Players Pairings Party the evening before, as well as a post-round awards reception. All Professional players in the overall tournament will be invited to both events, even those not playing in the Pro-am. For information, please visit the tournament website at www.TheOrcaGolf.com.
“At the heart of The Orca is creating opportunities, and INK! is a perfect fit,” said Tournament Director Mark Berman of MediaShare Consulting Group, producer of the event. “Our goal is to shine a light on the up-and-coming professional players of women’s golf while creating opportunities for women inside the ropes, in the boardroom, and in the community. With INK! as our beneficiary, we get to add education as one of those opportunities,” he said.
Said INK! Executive Director, Donna Lueders, “As a smaller non-profit in our market, we’re eager to take advantage of the spotlight this event affords us. Raising money for our public school students is our first priority, but this event will raise the organization’s level of awareness immensely which will ultimately lead to even more opportunities for the students we serve.”
In addition to the INK! Charity Pro-am at The Orca, there will be several other fundraising opportunities for the St Johns County-based charity. Admission to the overall tournament will be free to golf fans who will be asked to register on official tournament website. There will be a drop down giving people an option to make a small donation. The tournament will also have Donation Stations on the course for fans to give during the event.
The market’s first professional women’s golf tournament since 1976, The ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship presented by PXG will feature 64 women pursuing their dream of playing on the LPGA Tour, battling over two weeks in two separate, but connected tournaments. The first week will feature a 54-hole Stroke-Play tournament on the King & Bear course, which will also seed the second week’s event, a 64-woman Match-Play championship at Slammer & Squire. There will be no cut in the Stroke-Play event and all players will advance to the Match-Play tournament.
Each tournament will have its own prize purse, a guarantee of $50,000 shared between the two events, with the Match-Play Champion also receiving a gift card from PXG. The tournament series will feature a Pro-Am event, junior clinics, local community-based activities, and fundraising opportunities.
In addition to the golf competition, and of equal importance, the tournament will celebrate women’s initiatives by providing programming such as leadership forums, executive networking, and education. The programming will be developed and provided by Generation W, a national nonprofit based in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., founded and run by Donna Orender, whose mission embraces the guiding tenets of education, inspiration, and connection and the power of women’s leadership.
The ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match-Play Championship presented by PXG represents two of the 14 official events on the Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT) in 2021. The WAPT was established in 2019 in partnership with the LPGA’s Symetra Tour. The WAPT is the Official Qualifying Tour for the LPGA’s Symetra Tour, providing more opportunities for women to play professional golf and to advance their careers to the next level.
Information about elevated hospitality opportunities, Pro-Am spots, tickets, key sponsorships, and volunteering, as well as media contact is available on the tournament website at www.TheORCAGolf.com and by calling Mark Berman at MediaShare Consulting Group at 904.838.4962 or email mberman@mediashareconsulting.com.
About The Orca Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship presented by PXG:
The Orca was founded to shine a bright light on the developmental level of professional women’s golf, to create playing opportunities for those players to continue their journey, and through its collaboration with Generation W, to amplify the event’s bigger mission to inspire, educate and mentor The Orca players as well as members of the North Florida community.
About INK! (Investing in Kids):
The St. Johns County Education Foundation which operates as INK! (Investing in Kids), has an ongoing mission to provide innovative programs and classroom resources to promote the academic success of students in the St. Johns County School District, Fla. INK! is headquartered at 1 Christopher St. in St. Augustine. For more information, contact Donna Lueders at 904-547-7120 or email Donna.Lueders@stjohns.k12.fl.us. Visit the website at www.ink-stjohns.org.
Contact:
Mark D. Berman
904.838.4962
mberman@mediashareconsulting.com