Chun In-gee among three finalists for LPGA's Velocity Global Impact Award

Chun In-gee walks on the third green during the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida on Nov. 18, 2022. [AFP/YONHAP]

The LPGA announced Tuesday that Korean golfer Chun In-gee is one of three candidates for the Velocity Global Impact Award, alongside Lizette Salas and Mariah Stackhouse of the United States.

The award is given to "players who have helped to grow the sport of golf and inspire the next generation of athletes through their actions."

The final winner of the award, announced on March 8 after a fan vote running through March 6, will receive $100,000, as well as a $100,000 donation to her charity of choice. The two other finalists will receive $25,000.

Chun was selected as a final candidate because she not only founded the In Gee Chun LCC Educational Foundation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 2018, but also regularly donates money to the foundation which offers financial support for Lancaster Country Club’s caddies and their dependents who seek educational opportunities.

Lancaster Country Club is where Chun won the U.S. Women’s Open Championship in 2015.

Salas was selected because she launched the San Gabriel Junior Golf Program in 2012 in an attempt to provide golf lessons to young kids and grow the golf community in her hometown of Azusa, California.

Stackhouse is a partner in the Renee Powell Clearview Legacy Benefit, a charity golf event that was made in order to raise awareness of Renee Powell’s contribution to women’s golf. Renee Powell was the second black golfer to play on the LPGA Tour and is a huge figure in the sport, both as an early pioneer of professional women's golf and for her role in golf management after her retirement.

Stackhouse participates in the event and works to help young golfers be more interested in golf in order for them to have a chance to win a golf scholarship, like she did when she went to Stanford University with a four-year scholarship.

Fans can vote on the LPGA’s Velocity Global Impact Award Fan Vote page.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]