SINGAPORE — Widely regarded as “Asia’s Major”, it is the most popular international golf event in Singa­pore, attracting a crowd of more than 20,000 golf fans each year.

But the organisers of the HSBC Women’s Champions reckon that there is still plenty of room to grow the event’s spectator numbers and further widen its appeal to ­include even non-golf fans. 

This is why IMG Asia Pacific has decided to include lifestyle and ­entertainment elements to next year’s four-day competition, which will be held in March.

As part of this new approach, the tournament — which will be in its ninth edition next year — will feature a one-off ticketed concert by British pop band Take That at the Serapong golf course in Sentosa on the third day (March 5).

The three-man band, set to perform in Singapore for the first time in more than two decades, is the headline act in a music line-up that will feature other local and international talents, including Chicago-based electric dance music artist Jack ­Novak. 

Those who buy tickets to the Take That concert will  be granted access to that day’s golfing competition.

Apart from the concert, which will be held outdoors on a stage at the golf course’s driving range, a food village will be set up, with the highlight being a yet-to-be-revealed internationally renowned chef invited to create a signature menu.

At a media briefing today (Dec 15), IMG Asia Pacific senior vice-president Robbie Henchman said entertainment components have been included to complement the “high-level” golfing displays that the event already enjoys on a consistent basis.

Revealing that they were targeting 35,000 spectators — up from 29,000 last year — over the four-day event, Henchman said: “After eight years of doing the event, we realised that there’s not a lot left that we can do inside the ropes.

“You can’t really raise the bar much higher in terms of what we’ve already achieved as a sporting event. You have the very best players in the world, and you have an incredible championship golf course in an amazing city with phenomenal logistics.

“So to attract a wider audience, we decided to focus on what’s happening outside of the ropes — providing entertainment and activities for the fans while they’re not watching golf, as well as to attract a wider ­audience to catch some golfing action on the day of the concert.”

Jean Ng, the Singapore Tourism Board’s director of sports, added: “We think this experience will be more interesting. There are groups of our target audience that are drawn to a concert product, but they may not necessarily know what the golf product is like. So we wanted to marry the two elements together to attract a wider segment of the market, and to showcase Singapore as a destination that is very lifestyle-based, with a wide variety of experiences.”

Nevertheless, the focus of the event — which renewed its sponsorship deal with HSBC for another three years last month — will still be on the golfing action at Serapong.

A maximum number of 63 competitors — comprising the world’s top 20 players, winners from this year’s official LPGA tournaments, as well as the victors of the last two editions of the Women’s Champions — will vie for a share of the US$1.5 million (S$2.11 million) prize purse. 

Players who are already pencilled in include South Korean defending champion Park In-bee, current world No 1 Lydia Ko and 2014 champion Paula Creamer.

“I am very excited to have the ­opportunity to defend my HSBC Women’s Champions title,” said Park, a seven-time Major winner. “The tournament is one of the best in the world and always has one of the toughest fields we play all year.”

Added 18-year-old Ko: “Sentosa has a wonderful course, one which brings out the best in me. I have been playing well and hope I can get on the champions list this time round.”

When: March 3 to March 6
Where: Serapong Golf Course in Sentosa
Ticket prices (Take That Concert): S$348 (VIP), S$208 (Super Fanzone), S$138 (General Admission)
Ticket prices (HSBC Women’s Champions): S$20 (Single Day Ticket - weekday), S$30 (Single Day Ticket - weekend), S$60 (Seasonal Ticket)
Tickets go on sale from today and can be purchased at www.sistic.com.sg