At the Nagashima Shigeo (長嶋 茂雄) MEMORIAL Sega Sammy Charity Pro-Am Tournament hosted by Sega Sammy, Aoki Isao (青木 功) and Maruyama Shigeki (丸山 茂樹) played in the same group for the first time in 33 years. The tournament fused serious professional competition with amateur entertainment, offering a new experience incorporating Cheat golf.
The tournament was held as a mixed professional-amateur competition featuring 36 male professionals, 10 female professionals and 14 talent and athlete guests. It was designed to offer both individual competitions for male and female professionals and a team competition in which professionals, talent and guest amateurs competed as one team, while also featuring a charity auction as a community event.
Cheat golf, introduced as part of the new experience design, combined holes with bonuses and penalties with cheat cards won by guests from a slot machine. The concept was intended to balance professional play with amateur entertainment. Each hole featured changes in points and special-award presentations, with the timing of card use designed to influence the outcome.
Sega Sammy Group's development division was involved in staging the event, introducing premium presentations using gaming machines. The event was designed to build excitement from before the start through devices and cabinet designs, while enhancing its entertainment value by drawing on Sammy's expertise in presentation effects.
Among the participant comments, Maruyama Shigeki (丸山 茂樹) looked back on playing in the same group as Aoki Isao (青木 功) for the first time in 33 years, saying that he had enjoyed the round. Uetake Yuta (植竹 勇太), Kano Maiko (狩野 舞子) and Ushioda Reiko (潮田 玲子), among others, also praised the professional-amateur gameplay and the tournament's charitable purpose. The tournament's coverage, including collaborative broadcasts with a television program, brought the event to a wide audience.