The Nedbank Golf Challenge, one of Africa’s best-renowned golf tournaments, will feature on the European eTour in 2020 thanks to an innovative partnership between Nedbank and the European eTour.
The 2020 eTour Nedbank Golf Challenge will be played out across European eTour and World Golf Tour (WGT) social channels from December 4-6, with broadcast partners also airing a highlights package from the weekend’s action.
The virtual tournament will be played on the popular WGT video game, with an eight-week qualification process already underway to determine the top 128 players for the bracket. For those who qualify, there is the chance to win a $5,000 first prize.
There have been more than 400,000 entrants into eTour events in 2020 with 21-year-old American Peyton Gordley, known in-game as Golfx3, winning each of the four regular season events thus far. Golfx3 has already secured his place in the European eTour Grand Final which will take place in Dubai in January 2021 competing for a bumper prize pool of US$50,000.
Rufus Hack, Chief Operating Officer of the European Tour, said: “We are delighted to have Nedbank partner with us on the European eTour and are excited by the prospect of bringing a new tournament in the Nedbank Golf Challenge to the WGT community. With support from our venture partners, DreamHack Sports Games and Top Golf Media, we will continue to develop the initiative into something that is engaging for players and entertaining for fans as we seek to drive golf further”
Tobie Badenhorst, Nedbank Head of Group Sponsorships and Cause Marketing, said: “We’re pleased to be able to make this partnership possible and bring the eTour to South Africa. We always aim to give our clients market-leading experiences and this provides an opportunity for us to engage the Nedbank Golf Challenge fans and eSports fans in the country in a new way.
“We will hopefully get to see some of our best eSports players in the country take on the best of the best from across the world, like we would do on the course. We’re excited about the growth of our fruitful relationship with the European Tour and look forward to creating incredible entertainment value for Nedbank Golf Challenge and eSports fans across the world through this event.”
“Together, WGT, European Tour and Dreamhack have built an amazing Esport fan engagement platform,” said Topgolf Media President YuChiang Cheng. “We are honored to bring this solution to Nedbank and help them grow their community. We look forward to continuing to grow our industry-leading platform and capabilities to help brands engage and grow their audience.”
Mark Bjørk, Chief Operating Officer of Dreamhack Sports Games, said: “We share the excitement of our partners, the European Tour and WGT, for welcoming Nedbank as partner of the European eTour and we look forward to seeing the local WGT players and community in South Africa engaging with the esports equivalent of the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Partnering with Nedbank enables us to continue to grow golf’s leading esports proposition for the benefit of the players and fans.”
