KB to host annual golf tournament

By Yi Whan-woo

KB Financial Group will host a Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) tournament from Thursday to Sunday, offering 700 million won ($533,700) in prize money, including 140 million won for the winner, the company said Tuesday.

The annual tournament, known as the KB Finance Liiv Championship, will be held at Blackstone Golf Club in Gyeonggi Province's Icheon. Defending champion Yang Ji-ho and other top-ranked players of the association will be participating.

The banking group said this year's tournament will continue to reflect its commitment to philanthropy and joint prosperity.

Accordingly, it will donate 1 million won to charity for the first hole-in-one on the 13th hole.

It will also make a commitment to pay the mobile phone bills of some teenagers living in Icheon or its neighboring city of Yeoju for the next two years, whenever a tee shot hits the green on the 17th hole.

The green on the 17th hole will be called the KB Liiv Mobile Zone during the tournament.

Up to 100 teenagers from underprivileged neighborhoods in the two provincial cities are anticipated to benefit from the program.

Of the caddies participating in the tournament, KB Financial Group will sponsor 500,000 won to those who wear a cap printed with the company logo. Such sponsorship began last year when more than 110 caddies joined in.

The company will capitalize on the four-day tournament for its marketing campaign as well as the promotion of its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles.

It will run promotional booths for platform services run by its affiliates, including Liiv of KB Kookmin Bank, KB Pay of KB Kookmin Card and M-able of KB Securities.

A special cafe will open where beverages made of honey from the K-Bee Project, a campaign aiming to save bees and safeguard biodiversity, will be served.