Thursday, March 24, 2011

Golfers Support Japan Relief Efforts

I've been trying to keep track of the many golfers who have stepped up to support Japan relief efforts. Here's as complete a list as I can come up with:

Makeruna Nippon/Never Give Up, Japan: A fundraising organization created by Ai Miyazato, Mika Miyazato, and Momoko Ueda to support Civic Force, a Japanese emergency response team. They also have a site for giving in Japanese yen and British pounds. See LPGA.com and ProGolfTalk for more.

Fukuoka JLPGA fundraiser: Golf Girl passes along the news that 11 JLPGA golfers collected over 75 million yen (over $925,000) at Hakata Station in the city of Fukuoka on the southwestern island of Kyushu: Yui Kawahara, who organized it, along with Chie Arimura, Shinobu Moromizato, Miho Koga, Yukari Baba, Miki Saiki, Akane Iijima, Rui Kitada, Ritsuko Ryu, Yumiko Baba, and Nozomi Sato. Check out her post for her own overview of relief support efforts by golfers and others in Japan.

Studio Alice Ladies: This 4th JLPGA event to be cancelled has announced that its entire purse, 60 million yen (over $740,000), will be donated to relief efforts.

Mi-Jeong Jeon: The JLPGA star gave nearly $125,000.

RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup: The title sponsor donated over $53,000 from birdies and eagles by players, while Karrie Webb, Paula Creamer, Sun Young Yoo, Sarah Jane Smith, and Sandra Gal donated all (or, in Webb's case, half, or $100,000) of their winnings to Japan relief efforts.

Ya Ni Tseng: $50,000 to UNICEF.

Ryuji Imada: His handwritten note imploring fellow PGA Tour golfers to join him in supporting Japan relief efforts inspired Brandt Snedeker, Bobby Gates, and others to tie their initial donations to birdies they make. See Devil Ball Golf for more.

K.J. Choi: $100,000 to the American Red Cross.

Bubba Watson: $50,000.

[Update 1 (11:39 am): At the end of a very funny rookie blog post on getting lost in Christchurch, which she wrote before she knew about the terrible earthquake that hit that exact part of New Zealand, Tiffany Joh points to ways to support relief efforts there and in Japan.]

[Update 2 (3/31/11, 10:59 am): Whoa, check out how much Ryo Ishikawa could conceivably be contributing this year! All his 2011 earnings plus 100,000 yen per birdie!]

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