Volvo and The European Tour today unveiled a new season starting tournament on the European Tour Schedule. Taking place at the Royal Golf Club in the Kingdom of Bahrain, this special event will be a unique ’Tournament of Champions’ style event and for the first time will see European Tour tournament winners compete together with leading amateurs on one day of the Tournament. The full official event name and logo will be announced at a press conference in Bahrain later this year. The inaugural event will take place from the 27th to 30th January, 2011, with the full support of the Bahrain Economic Development Board.
Volvo, one of the most prolific and longest serving supporters of world golf, with over 20 years experience in running world-class golf tournaments, has title-sponsored over 120 professional golf tournaments and will now be in an elite stable of sponsors with multiple professional tournaments to their name. Innovation is a watchword at Volvo and as such the Tournament has been created, together with IMG - the world’s leading sports, entertainment and media company - and in conjunction with The European Tour Tournament Committee, to be a very special event with unique qualification criteria whereby only winners of previous European Tour tournaments will be eligible. By way of celebrating the very first Tournament, the 2011 event will be widened to a full field of up to 126 players slotting into the January schedule, bringing together both current and past European Tour winners, including champions of past major events. From 2012 the Tournament will revert to a stream-lined ‘European Tour Tournament of Champions’ anticipated to only include winners of the previous season’s Race to Dubai counting tournaments. Crucially the 2012 and 2013 editions will then move to an earlier January date ensuring the Tournament is then the first full counting event of The European Tour International Schedule.
Volvo’s sponsorship covers the golfing spectrum and includes sponsorship of the Volvo Masters Amateur Tour, a global golf series for clients and prospects that covers 25 countries and hundreds of qualifying tournaments culminating in the ‘season ending’ Volvo Masters Amateur World Final. With the creation of this new tournament, Volvo have found an innovative way to combine their grassroots and professional sponsorships whereby leading qualifiers from the Volvo Masters Amateur Tour will be invited to play ‘real golf’ alongside the professionals on one tournament day at this new event, providing them with firsthand experience of world class professional golf.
Bahrain has been chosen as the host destination with the full backing and investment of the Bahrain Economic Development Board who have identified golf as the ideal international marketing platform from which to promote Bahrain with all the associated economic and business benefits such a high profile international golfing tournament brings.
The immaculate Montgomerie Course at the Royal Golf Club will host the inaugural event, reopened in 2009 having had a major redevelopment under the experienced eye of eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner, Colin Montgomerie and European Golf Design. Taking advantage of Bahrain’s natural rough desert terrain and combining it with vast manmade lakes, the desert feel is retained through the use of sandy waste bunkers and the attractive indigenous vegetation and grasses used in the landscaping with the rolling links-style fairways and undulating greens immaculately maintained.
Per Ericsson, President & CEO of Volvo Event Management Golf, explained, “We wanted to create something very special. Today’s announcement is the culmination of those dreams. Golf is unique in that it is the only sport where our clients can truly enjoy the experience of playing alongside the world’s leading golfers in a professional tournament. Golf reflects our company’s values and serves as a remarkably successful market tool and with this in mind we are delighted to be further expanding our commitment to The European Tour.”
We enjoyed 21 very successful years as sponsors of the season ending Volvo Masters and when we looked to extend our sponsorship portfolio to three events we wanted to create something really special that would stand out as well as embracing our successful Volvo Masters Amateur Tour. We love the idea of becoming the first event of the season while using the inaugural Championship to celebrate golf. Golf has long been a major part of our sponsorship portfolio as a well proven client relations marketing tool and we believe we have, together with IMG and the European Tour players, created a unique tournament with real longevity. While in 2011 we will follow the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and will accommodate a full field event in a ‘Celebration of Golf,’ going forward we will look to limit the field focusing on the elite group of Tour winners, marking the start of the new season by celebrating The European Tour champions from the previous year. ”
He continued, “It was very important for us to create a new tournament that also served as a platform for our amateur programme of which we are very proud and we believe that with this combination, we have the ideal formula for what we believe will become a key tournament on The European Tour international schedule for many years to come.”
Ericsson concluded, “We have spent a great deal of time looking at venues around the world and decided upon Bahrain as not only has the venue got everything we need but Bahrain Economic Development Board have shown great vision and enthusiasm to host this world class tournament. Crucially, Bahrain is located in between our biggest market, Europe, and our fastest growing market, Asia, making it the ideal location to host our international clients.”
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said: “Volvo’s support of The European Tour has been invaluable to our development and we again thank them for maintaining this strong and powerful partnership. The Kingdom of Bahrain becomes the 38th country to host European Tour competition and our members will look forward to exhibiting their world class skills in this new arena. We would also congratulate the International Management Group for continuing their important support of the Tour Membership by adding another tournament to those which are already stage on The European Tour International Schedule.”
Guy Kinnings, IMG’s Director of Golf, EAME, added “IMG have been long term supporters of The European Tour having staged over 250 European Tour events over the past 46 years. Coupled with Volvo’s experience and commitment to golf over the past 20 plus years, we are proud to have collaborated on this exciting new tournament. IMG has worked with the Royal Golf Club for many years and shared their goal of hosting a European Tour event so it is very satisfying to see this happen. We are particularly grateful to the support of the Bahrain Economic Development Board whose vision in supporting the Championship was a key factor as we looked at venues.”
Welcoming the event, Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, said: “This is very big news for us. Bahrain has long been known as a business friendly location and gateway for international business looking to access wider markets across the Middle East. However, golf is a very established and important business tool that we have yet to exploit. We have worked hard to bring this event to Bahrain and are very happy that Volvo, IMG and The European Tour have chosen us as host.
“Golf has a very strong global presence and we believe it will bring great benefits to Bahrain. We very much look forward to welcoming the players and guests to Bahrain and think this will be a very popular event. We have made great strides to raise the profile of Bahrain on the international stage in recent years, starting with the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix, the first F1 event in the Middle East. Hosting the curtain raiser for The European Tour will only help us raise our profile further.”
Shaikh Rashid Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Royal Golf Club’s owning company, added, “It is a great honour to be hosting our first full European Tour event and very exciting for all the members and staff. The course reviews have been excellent and it will be very special for us to welcome so many of the world’s best golfers. Working with our course designer, Colin Montgomerie, we believe the course has exactly the right attributes to host a world class golf event and it will be fascinating to see how they tackle the truly unique blend of links and desert golf on offer.”
The 2010 European Ryder Cup Captain, Colin Montgomerie, added “It is very exciting for the Royal Golf Club to have been selected to host a full European Tour event and I will feel very proud when Europe’s best players go head to head over The Montgomerie Course, Bahrain. With European Golf Design and the vision of the Royal Golf Club, I think we have created a really superb Championship course and we are looking forward to welcoming the Championship in January.”
A press conference will be held in Bahrain later this year to announce full details of the event including the full tournament title and to present the new logo.
SUMMARY OF THE 2011 TOURNAMENT
DATE
Week beginning January 24, 2011
QUALIFICATION CRITERIA
The Championship will be open to players who have taken up 2011 European Tour Membership and who are eligible under the following categories:-
1) Winners of the following from 2001: Open Championship, ET Order of Merit /Race to Dubai, US Masters, US Open Championship and US PGA Championship
2) Winners of the following from 2006: PGA Championship, TPC of Europe, European Open (up to and including 2008), Dubai World Championship and Volvo Masters
3) Winners of 2008 onwards World Golf Championship events and 2009 onwards European Open, French Open and Scottish Open tournaments
4) Winners of 2009 onwards European Tour Race to Dubai Tournaments with a prize fund of €1.5m and higher
5) Winners of 2010 onwards European Tour Race to Dubai Tournaments with a prize fund of below €1.5m
6) Up to six sponsor invitations
7) A maximum of one player who has won a recognised national or regional amateur or professional tournament – confirmed as the King Hamad Trophy
8) Members who are eligible for Category 8 in the 2011 European Tour exemption category breakdown and who are previous winners of European Tour Order of Merit Tournaments
9) Players finishing within positions 1-40 on the 2010 career money list, with a career win on the European Tour.
FORMAT
A maximum of 126 players will compete over 4 days, 18 holes per day, strokeplay. After the first 36 holes the field will be cut to the leading 60 players and ties.
On Saturday the Volvo Masters Amateur World Finalists will play in the tournament, with one amateur playing with two Professionals in each group. The Professionals will continue to play individual strokeplay format, while the amateurs will play ‘best ball’ (net score), with either Pros score counting towards the Amateurs ‘best net’ score if necessary.
Sunday will be Professionals only.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday – two tee start
Sunday – one tee start.
ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE
Monday Practice
Tuesday Practice
Gala Dinner
Wednesday Pro Am
Thursday Round 1
Friday Round 2
Saturday Round 3
Sunday Final round
Prize Giving
Monday Sponsor Golf Day /Volvo Amateur event
PRIZE MONEY
2011 €1,700,000
Notes to Editor
About Volvo
Founded in 1927 in Gothenburg, Sweden, Volvo has grown into one of the most successful automotive brands in the world, built on the foundations of its three core values of Safety, Quality and Environmental Care.
Volvo Cars
Volvo Cars has always been an industry innovator, introducing many features such as three-point safety-belts and catalytic converters that are standard across the automotive industry today.
Volvo Cars are sold in around 100 countries worldwide, with sales in 2009 amounting to almost 335,000 vehicles, the most popular of which is the award-winning Volvo XC60, followed by the Volvo V50 and the Volvo V70.
Volvo Cars currently employs almost 20,000 staff and has manufacturing facilities in Sweden, Belgium and China and the largest markets for Volvo Cars are the USA, followed by Sweden, Great Britain, Germany and China, where sales almost doubled between 2008 and 2009.
Volvo Group
Volvo Group is the parent company for six Volvo-branded customer-facing business areas, Volvo Aero, Volvo Buses, Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Financial Services, Volvo Penta and Volvo Trucks.
Renault Trucks, Mack Trucks and UD Trucks are also part of the Volvo Group portfolio of companies.
Volvo Group currently employs over 90,000 staff worldwide with production facilities in 19 nations, with sales conducted across 180 different countries.
Volvo Event Management (Golf)
Excellence is Par for the Course
Part of Volvo Group, but responsible for the in-house planning and management of global golf sponsorship activity shared by Volvo Cars and Volvo Group, Volvo Event Management (Golf) is based in Gothenburg, Sweden and currently has a portfolio of three events under its auspices, the Volvo China Open, the national open golf championship of China, the Volvo World Match Play Championship, professional golf’s most enduring match play event and the Volvo Masters Amateur, one of the most inclusive global golf series in the world for club golfers.
Volvo Event Management (Golf) has been headed by its President, Per Ericsson since June 2008 and has a core in-house staff supported by specialist consultants and agencies as and when required.
www.volvochinaopen.com / www.volvoworldmatchplay.com / www.volvomastersamateur.com
Sailing
The toughest, roughest race on earth sets sail again from Alicante in Spain on a 39,270nm, nine-month, epic ocean-going challenge of skill and endurance, eight stopovers, In-port and Pro-am races as well as gruelling long legs and short sprints before the winner is declared in Galway, Ireland just before the London Olympics get underway in 2012.
www.volvoinsponsorship.com / www.volvooceanrace.com
About The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB)
The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) is a dynamic public agency with an overall responsibility for formulating and overseeing the economic development strategy of Bahrain, and for creating the right climate to attract direct investment into the Kingdom.
The role of the Bahrain EDB is to provide leadership by uniting all of the Kingdom's shareholders through a unified vision, and to develop key strategies for growth. The Bahrain EDB also acts as a facilitator, helping all of Bahrain's stakeholders to understand and adopt the changes necessary for progress. In addition, the Bahrain EDB provides sound project management to ensure that all agreed reform initiatives are implemented in an effective and timely manner.
The Bahrain EDB is also responsible for attracting inward investment into Bahrain, and is focusing on six target economic sectors in which the Kingdom offers significant strengths. These are financial services, downstream industries, tourism, business services, logistics, and education and training.
For more information on the Bahrain EDB visit www.bahrainedb.com; for information about Bahrain visit www.bahrain.com
About IMG GOLF
IMG’s Golf Division is the gateway into the business, lifestyle and traditions of golf with leadership in all facets of the game. We give our clients and customers unlimited access to the people, places, and organisations driving the sport. IMG Golf represent and strategically manage the careers of some of the best golfers in the world and have done for over 40 years. IMG owns or implements over 40 tournaments worldwide and provide partners with unique opportunities to engage with customers through their bespoke golf day programmes. IMG offers expert golf course design and management services and consults to many governing bodies, federations, resorts and companies around the world. IMG Academies, featuring the David Leadbetter Golf Academy, offer world-class training facilities. IMG provides sales sponsorship services to its clients and customers. IMG is involved in every aspect of the game from TV, licensing and speakers to publishing, hospitality and brand/pr development. IMG Golf relies on its global knowledge and involvement in the game to guarantee its partners a unique service.
About IMG Sports & Entertainment
Operating in 30 countries, IMG Sports & Entertainment’s diverse businesses include: consulting services; event ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; and client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, speakers, European football, rugby, cricket, motor sports, coaching, Olympic and action sports. IMG Academies are the world's largest, multi-sport training and educational facilities, delivering world-class training experiences to more than 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult, and professional athletes each year.
More information about IMG is available at www.imgworld.com
The Royal Golf Club, Bahrain
Situated in the heart of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Royal Golf Club is the jewel in the crown of the Riffa Views luxury residential community and enjoys the distinction of being the island’s only grass championship-standard golf course. Conveniently located in the centre of the island, the Club is just a 20-minute drive from the capital city, Manama, and the same distance from the Saudi - Bahrain causeway.
The Royal Golf Club opened in November 2008 when it became the venue for the Riffa Views Invitational, an internationally-televised tournament starring the course’s designer, Colin Montgomerie and his contemporaries and fellow golfing legends Retief Goosen, Camilo Villegas and Michael Campbell.
The world-class standard 7243-yard par 72 Montgomerie course offers a unique blend of links and desert golf, taking advantage of Bahrain’s natural rough desert terrain. Features of the course include rolling links-style fairways, generous-sized bunkers and large undulating greens.
The challenging championship course is complemented by the Wee Monty 9-hole par 3 academy course which is ideal for concentrating on all aspects of the short game.
The back 9 holes of the Montgomerie course and the whole of the Wee Monty academy course are fitted with the latest hi-tech floodlights enabling players to enjoy a relaxing round of evening golf.
Additional facilities at the Royal Golf Club include a custom-built golf academy featuring shaded driving range bays, two practice greens with bunkers, state-of-the-art tuition suites and Café T, a bustling coffee shop cum snack bar.
Inside the club house there is a golf shop well stocked with golf hardware, accessories and clothing from all the best international brands. Links Restaurant, located on the mezzanine floor of the club house, offers a lounge area, cocktail bar, outdoor terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows offering spectacular views across the golf course and lakes. The extensive menu includes the “Steak Stone” as its signature dish.
Conference rooms and a purpose-built circular banquet hall round off the facilities at Bahrain’s premier events, dining and golf venue.
Bahrain International Golf Company
Bahrain International Golf Company (BIGC) was formed in 1994 and is the owning company and operator of the Royal Golf Club. The shareholders of BIGC consist of the Bahrain Pension Fund Commission, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the General Organisation for Social Insurance as well as a number of banks, investment companies and five-star hotels.
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