History of the Panasonic OPEN
Since its founding, Panasonic has contributed to societal development by supporting a wide variety of sports-related activities. The Panasonic golf tournament series began in Japan in 2008, now spans 5 Asian countries, bolstering the golf scene across Asia.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, golf made its comeback as an official Olympic sport after a 112-year absence from the games and Panasonic is committed to advancing competitive golf throughout Asia and showcasing it on the global stage.
Panasonic started the Panasonic OPEN Asia-Pacific Open Golf Championship in Japan in 2008 as the competition that determined the number one player across the Asia-Pacific region. The event was sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the Japan Golf Association (JGA) and Panasonic. Additionally, the open was jointly sanctioned as a prize ranking tournament through a special collaboration by the Asian Tour and the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO).
Four organizations with the shared goal of developing golf in the Asia-Pacific region joined forces to hold the very first Panasonic OPEN at the Ibaraki Country Club in Osaka, Japan. The massive tournament boasted a host of participants, including major tournament winners, from countries all over Asia, participating in a competitive battle that crossed international borders.
Panasonic OPEN INDIA was held for the first time in April, 2011. Panasonic is the lead sponsor, working in full partnership with the Asian Tour in a multicultural project. Panasonic extended their golf support activities to India for their first large-scale overseas competition due to the countries impressive number of competitive players.
Panasonic began supporting tournaments overseas in an effort to cultivate competitive golfers in various locales across Asia. In light of this, Panasonic implemented a system where the three highest placing Indian players earn an exemption into the event which decides the number one player in the Asia-Pacific region, the Panasonic OPEN in Japan.
From May to August of the same year, Thailand hosted a once-per-month, four-tournament series called the ROAD TO Panasonic OPEN in THAILAND. Similar to the system set up in India, the series winner earned an exemption into the Japanese competition.
Panasonic extended its international golf activities into Indonesia in 2012 by starting the ROAD TO Panasonic OPEN in INDONESIA, with the winner of this three-tournament series also earning an exemption to compete in Japan.
In 2014, which marked the sixth year of the Japanese competition, Panasonic held a Panasonic OPEN in Malaysia, bringing the total number of countries to which Panasonic had extended its support of golf to five.
Panasonic revived the Panasonic OPEN in 2016 after a two-year hiatus, adding a ladies’ tournament to the men’s competition of previous years. With this addition of the brand-new LPGA Step Up Tour, Panasonic put the framework in place to further the dreams of Olympic hopefuls in both men’s and ladies’ golf.
Ladies’ tournament has promoted from LPGA Step Up Tour to Japanese LPGA Tour since 2019. First tournament was held as “Panasonic OPEN Ladies Golf Tournament” in Hamano Golf Club.
Panasonic launched the first Panasonic SWING in 2017. This series of tournaments is a year-long race for points that spans five countries throughout Asia –India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan.
Panasonic SWING points are awarded based on rank for each tournament, with the final score tallied at the following year’s Panasonic OPEN tournament in Japan. The player with the most points is awarded prize money and the opportunity to participate in one round of the European Tour, giving Asian golf the chance to spread its wings on a global scale.
Panasonic truly believes that developing the sports scene is a positive way to enrich people’s lives and make the world a better place, little by little, so they will push forward in a variety of pursuits in order to create “A better life, A better world”.
![Panasonic SWING[Thailand → India → Indonesia → Malaysia → Japan]](/content/dam/panasonic/phd-global/en/corporate/about/sponsorship/panasonic-open/history/history_img_map.png)
