We held the 2021 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in January, featuring outstanding women golfers – as usual. Jessica Korda, this year’s tournament champion, made her mark by earning the LPGA Tour’s first score of 60 since 2008. Meanwhile, the only woman to score a 59 in LPGA history, Annika Sörenstam, played those same fairways in the celebrity field.
The event also welcomed two young ladies who qualified in the tournament’s pro-am – 14-year-old Katherine and 13-year-old Ariana. They played alongside their golf heroes, giving the audience at home a view of past, present and future athletic excellence.
It was Brittany “Bam Bam” Lincicome, who brought Diamond Resorts and the LPGA together when she joined our roster of Diamond Celebrity ambassadors in 2015. At the time, Brittany was a Diamond Celebrity ambassador, hosting meet-and-greets and golf clinics in between grabbing victories on tour. She introduced Diamond Resorts CEO Mike Flaskey to the LPGA Commissioner, and from that meeting, the tournament began to form. Brittany and all the LPGA pros look forward to playing in the Tournament of Champions each year – it’s unlike any other experience on the LPGA Tour. Brittany is a role model for young golfers everywhere with her powerhouse swing, eight LPGA Tour victories and over $9 million in earnings to date.
Blair O’Neal brought her star power to the team in 2017 when she became a Diamond Celebrity ambassador. A trailblazer for building a career in a social media-driven world, Blair played golf through college and played professionally on the Symetra Tour before picking up modeling and TV fame through her appearances on GOLF Channel’s “Big Break.” Her diverse background has helped Blair build her social following and create a career like no other by combining her impressive golf and social media skills. Blair is a true triple threat and proves that female athletes can turn their passions into successful careers.
In December 2020, Annika Sörenstam became the most recent addition to the Diamond Resorts celebrity roster. As a World Golf Hall of Famer and overall icon of the sport, she is collaborating with Diamond to continue growing the game. After earning a spot to play with the PGA men at Colonial Country Club in 2003 and winning 72 LPGA Tour titles, there are few names bigger than hers in the women’s golf world. Annika still enjoys hitting the links and now focuses her energy on growing the sport at all levels through the ANNIKA Foundation.
Diamond Resorts is honored to work with these dynamic women and the LPGA to bring out the best of women’s golf each year. As the Tournament of Champions continues to evolve, we are excited to see our celebrity ambassadors use their passions and skills to continue supporting their beloved sport.
