ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The ANNIKA Foundation, which is developing and empowering the next generation of women around the world through the game of golf, is further fulfilling its mission as part of a new content production partnership with Babygrande Golf.
Babygrande Golf was founded to support the worldwide growth and development of junior and amateur golf, including through title sponsorship of a new American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) event in 2024—the Babygrande D.C. Classic. Babygrande Golf is a subsidiary of Babygrande Global, Inc., an American diversified corporation based in New York with holdings in the music, film, sports, craft beer, media, and supercar industries.
As part of the partnership, Babygrande Golf will generate player and tournament content beginning with the 2024 Hilton Grand Vacations ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex event, which features many of the top junior girls in the world and is played at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. The winner will get an exemption into the 2024 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions LPGA event, as well as a 2024 Epson Tour event. Babygrande Golf also will support The ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M, which features many of the top women's collegiate golf teams in the country and played at the Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minn., which is co-designed by Arnold Palmer and Annika.
“While our Foundation and the AJGA produce its own content, we recognize the opportunity to partner with Babygrande Golf to enhance our player/tournament content offering,” said Rob Ohno, Chief Executive Officer, The ANNIKA Foundation. “The players that we serve are immensely talented golfers and wonderful young people. We would like to provide others with the opportunity to get to know more of these young women in fun and unique ways, especially as they pursue their dreams of playing college or professional golf.”
Babygrande Golf will distribute and market content on its approximately one-million follower reach in-house network of a variety of social media channels, including @gonegolfingtv, @bunkersplash @golfermoments, @babygrandegolf, @babygrandesports, and @topgolfershere, to name a few. Additionally, Babygrande Golf will use its network of third-party content distribution partners and proprietary advertising strategies to further amplify the content.
“It is an honor to have the opportunity to partner with the prestigious ANNIKA Foundation to grow the game of golf,” said Chuck Wilson, CEO and Chairman, Babygrande Global, Inc. “We are committed to sponsoring events and pushing the envelope in terms of how golf tournament content is produced, distributed, marketed and amplified around the world.”
Domingo Neris, a former marketing executive at Frank 151 Media Group/Malbon Brothers Farms in New York, who joined the company last year and played a significant role producing the Babygrande D.C. Classic event activations, added "The junior golf space is wide open in terms of content and marketing opportunities that can bring hundreds of millions of impressions through quality content, event activations, experiential marketing, collaborations and product tie-ins."
About The ANNIKA Foundation
Annika created the ANNIKA Foundation (www.annikafoundation.org) to develop and empower the next generation of women around the world through the game of golf. More specifically, it provides opportunities in women’s golf at the junior, collegiate and professional levels while teaching young people the importance of personal development, including living a healthy, active lifestyle through fitness and nutrition. The Foundation has partnered with key organizations to promote healthy, active lifestyles for children, including SPARK, Florida Hospital for Children in support of its Healthy 100 Kids initiative and The First Tee in development of the Nine Healthy Habits curriculum for children, and an endowment of the AJGA’s ACE Grant program.
The ANNIKA Foundation annually conducts several “Share My Passion” grassroots clinics designed to introduce kids to the game. It also conducts six major golf events for aspiring junior girls: the Hilton Grand Vacations ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex, in the U.S.; ANNIKA Invitational Asia; ANNIKA Invitational Europe and ANNIKA Cup in Sweden; the Women’s Amateur Latin America, with the R&A in Argentina; and the ANNIKA Invitational Australasia in New Zealand. Since 2014, the Foundation has annually hosted the ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M, a women’s college tournament featuring 12 top Division I schools. Moreover, with the support of the Haskins Foundation, the Foundation created the ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel, which is given annually to the best collegiate female golfer. In 2022, the ANNIKA Development Program was created to support recent college graduates pursue their dreams of playing professional golf.
About Babygrande Golf
Babygrande Golf was founded to support the worldwide growth and development of junior, amateur and collegiate golf. It was launched in 2022 as a division of Babygrande Global, Inc., an American diversified corporation based in New York with holdings in the music, film, sports, craft beer, media, and supercar industries. Since launch, Babygrande Golf has sponsored, produced and marketed content related to several high visibility junior tournaments such as the AJGA Golf Performance Center Junior at Salem Golf Club in Westchester, New York, The Mack Champ Invitational in Houston, Texas, and the Three Little Birds Memorial AJGA Open at the Piedmont Club in Haymarket, Virginia. The Babygrande D.C. Classic, which debuted in 2023 with the AJGA and the National Links Trust, will return in 2024 along with many other high-profile events that will be announced later this year.
For more information about Babygrande Golf visit babygrandegolf.org and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @babygrandegolf.
