The R&A & Hsbc Partner For 9-shot Challenge
The R&A and its partner HSBC have teamed up to launch the 9-Shot Challenge, giving young golfers the chance to virtually take on Royal St George’s during the week of The 149th Open.
To take part, golfers will need to go to participating Topgolf venues or Toptracer Ranges, but can also play at home on the World Golf Tour (WGT) app.
Participants can opt-in to the Topgolf Sweepstakes and hit all 9 of their best approach shots on nine different virtual golf holes at Royal St George’s for their chance to win. Taking place from 10-18 July, golfers will be given the chance to show off their golfing prowess as well as win a selection of top prizes.
Players’ scores will be determined by the sum of their distances across all nine holes and will be logged on the overall leaderboard – but those who miss the virtual greens will be assigned penalty points. The lower the players score, the higher they will appear on the virtual leaderboard.
Taking place in the week of The 149th Open, players can take on the challenge as many times as they want. Following the deadline, one grand prize winner (who will be selected at random from eligible entries) will take home a pin flag from the competition, signed by this year’s winner.
“We know that many fans dream of being able to play on the famous links which host The Open every year and the 9-Shot Challenge presented by The Open and HSBC will offer a high-quality virtual experience in which competing golfers of all ages and abilities can test their skills over nine holes of Royal St George’s,” said Phil Anderton, Executive Director – Chief Development Officer, The R&A.
“We see this product as an exciting way to engage with new audiences and attract them into the sport by providing a fun experience that can be enjoyed by family and friends. We know that many people enjoy consuming golf through the use of Topgolf and Toptracer Range locations and so we need to embrace these alternative forms of the sport as we look to grow the interest in playing golf. We look forward to seeing who emerges as the winning golfer next week.”
Royal St George’s has hosted The Open 14 times with many golfing legends gracing the famous links in Sandwich and golfers taking on the 9-Shot Challenge will need to channel the feats of past Champion Golfers there, including Darren Clarke, Sandy Lyle and Greg Norman, to get to the top of the leaderboard.
