Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge continues to rank amongst the best

Joy Chakravarty 11:15 10/12/2014
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  • Top condition: 84 finalists across seven different countries will compete in the event at Al Hamra Golf Club this weekend.

    The Xerox Corporate Golf Chal­lenge, which was adjudged the Cor­porate Tournament of the Year at Sport360°’s 2013 MEGAs, is poised for its most exciting chapter yet in its 17-year-old history.

    This weekend, 84 finalists from 12 qualifying rounds across seven countries will gather in Ras Al Khaimah to compete in the Grand Final, a two-day event to be played at Tower Links Golf Club and Al Hamra Golf Club. All the finalists receive complimentary stay dur­ing this period at the stunning new Waldorf Astoria.

    One of the most noticeable fea­tures of the Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge is how the tournament has continued to try out new things to make it interesting for the par­ticipants.

    Andrew Horne, general man­ager, Xerox Emirates, may not be able to take part in the tournament because of a wrist injury, but he is excited to find out what the players think of their latest initiative.

    Horne, who is training to take part in the Ironman triathlon in Texas on May 16 next year, said: We started the tournament in 1997 as a stan­dalone tournament in Dubai. And over the years, we have added to the schedule and it has become a very successful and attractive tourna­ment.

    “The key measures, I guess, is how many participants…and we have had more participants (over 1,100) this year than any other year.

    “We added one additional quali­fying round in 2014. That’s the dif­ference from other years. It is a regional tournament and takes place in seven different countries in the region and South Africa. And we have ambition to take it to more countries, but it takes a lot of com­mitment from whoever is on the ground to make it work.”

    The concept of the grand finale is the biggest change this year. In the earlier years, the tournament did have a grand final, but this year, thanks to their tie-up with RAK Tourism and Waldorf Astoria, the grand final itself has become the grand prize.

    “We are getting a lot of support from RAK Tourism and Waldorf Astoria and the two golf courses to make it a success,” said Horne. “I was there a few weeks ago and I must say both the golf courses are in fantastic conditions.

    “We used to have a grand prize before, but isn’t this a better way to reward all the winners? The partic­ipants are being urged to bring their families and stay extra nights, so it is definitely going to be something different for them and I can’t wait to get their reactions.”

    Horne said Xerox Emirates defi­nitely have plans to grow the tour­nament further, but they are no longer interested in making mas­sive changes just for the sake of making changes.

    “The best way to describe our tournament is that we want to evolve, rather than revolutionise. It’s got a terrific platform now, and we have got to keep testing a few things to see how we can make it better,” said Horne.

    “My vision for the tournament is to make it a genuinely corporate tournament. So this year, we added prizes for pure corporate teams – where both members were from the same company. We want to contin­ue with that, but evolve it, because obviously, we also understand that golf is a game to network. So, we don’t want to be hung up on the idea that everyone has got to be from the same company.

    “To give you an example, one thing we tried this year was to have morning shotgun starts rather than afternoon. I have seen that most participants do not stay back for dinner and prize presentation because they’d rather spend the evening with their families.

    “The morning start threw off quite a few people, but we hoped that more people will stay if we have a lunch. I think it has helped and we have had higher attendanc­es at prize presentations.

    “As for the number of events, I think we have probably got ideal penetration in the UAE market. We have five qualifying events here – three in Dubai and two in Abu Dhabi. We might put one more in Ras Al Khaimah. It will be nice to test a few more golf courses because we have so many great courses here, but then we also have some very good partnerships with some of the clubs already.

    “In terms of other countries, for Xerox as a brand, it is very exciting to expand. We may add a couple of countries in the future.”

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