Stars of this week’s Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic on DP World Tour donate first balls to year-long collection
DP World, the leading provider of smart supply chain solutions and title partner of the newly named DP World Tour, has created a unique shipping container that will collect and redistribute used golf balls during the 2022 DP World Tour season, giving them a second life.
Travelling through DP World’s global logistics infrastructure and network, the container will visit six DP World Tour events. Fans will be invited to donate used and unwanted golf balls, which will be redistributed to organisations that are championing golf from the grassroots up, to help grow the game globally.
By launching this campaign, DP World will not only support the development of grassroots golf but will also shine a light on how the increasing popularity of the game and the pandemic-induced supply chain challenges have impacted the sport industry.
The container, which is made from a repurposed 20-foot shipping container, can house as many as 200,000 golf balls and will weigh approximately 12 tonnes when full.
Its first stop is within the fan village at this week’s Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, the iconic event that has been elevated to the DP World Tour’s signature Rolex Series of tournaments for the first time in 2022, and which takes place at the Emirates Golf Club from January 27th-30th.
Throughout the rest of the season, spectators, fans, players and other partners of the DP World Tour will be invited to visit the container and donate unwanted balls at other select DP World Tour events, including the BMW PGA Championship and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
DP World will deploy real-time tracking technology to the container, allowing fans of the sport to follow its journey between tournaments, whether it’s travelling by rail, road, or sea, demonstrating the central role that the company’s world-leading logistics and supply chain capabilities play in the world of golf.
Daniel van Otterdijk, Chief Communications Officer DP World said:
“Global supply chain disruptions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to impact the import of sports and leisure equipment into the Middle East, including golf equipment. With our passion to support golf’s global ecosystem, combined with our world-leading logistics and supply chain solutions, DP World is perfectly positioned to alleviate this pressure and meet the rising popularity of golf. We’re therefore delighted to be launching this unique container here at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic and to support golf from the grassroots up.
Guy Kinnings, Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer of the DP World Tour said: “Our partnership with DP World has gone from strength to strength over the past 11 years, with DP World becoming the new title partner of the European Tour group's main Tour from this season. We are delighted to see our partner use the might of its global logistics infrastructure to support the growing demand and popularity of the game of golf worldwide, and we also thank DP World Tour official partner Callaway for supporting this important initiative.”
DP World Tour official partner Callaway is supporting DP World in its efforts to grow the game globally by:
· Offering fans that support the initiative money can’t buy experiences through the season, such as VIP club fittings on the range at select DP World Tour events
· Offering unique golf prizes to incentivise ball donations at future events
· Offering support to grassroots initiatives with golf equipment
· Supplying an initial quantity of balls contained in the container’s partition, which will be donated to grassroots golf organisations at the end of the season
Neil Howie, President and Managing Director, Callaway EMEA, said:
“Our sport has a fantastic opportunity to encourage and nurture newcomers to the game, as golf participation and interest booms across the world. As an official partner of the DP World Tour, Callaway is happy to support this innovative and engaging initiative that will ultimately benefit a host of very worthy participation projects.”
To support the launch, DP World asked some of the global stars of the DP World Tour to donate the first balls to the container with a unique chipping challenge. Callaway Staff Professionals, Thomas Bjørn, Marc Warren, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Nino Bertasio and Sami Välimäki got the collection going by chipping balls into the containers hatch during the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic.
