Porsche European Open with strong competitors

In the line-up at the long-established tournament to be played on the Beckenbauer Golf Course from 24 to 27 September are, amongst others, numerous Ryder Cup stars and five Major winners. Spectators in Lower Bavaria can marvel at the skills of big names like Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland), Peter Hanson (Sweden), Jamie Donaldson (Wales) or Paul Lawrie (Scotland). A lot of attention is sure to focus on the Spanish crowd favourite Miguel Ángel Jiménez. The former US Masters winner Charl Schwartzel from South Africa will also be competing as will Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, this year’s Open de France win­ner. Normally only to be seen on the USA PGA Tour, the top American pros Hunter Mahan and Morgan Hoffman will, amongst others from across the Atlantic, also be on view.

The group of German players will be headed by the golfing legend Bernhard Langer. The two-time Masters winner and multiple-winner on the US Champions Tour has a rather special relationship with the tournament venue – Langer designed the Beckenbauer Course. A total of 154 professionals and 2 amateurs will be looking to make the cut to ensure they will be in the mix for the two final rounds on Saturday and Sunday. There is a big incentive as the Porsche European Open has a purse of two million euro. On the 17^th hole there will be – for the first time in the history of the European Tour – a new Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet on offer for a hole-in-one. The sports car was only last week premiered at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt (IAA).

Porsche is looking forward with great anticipation to its first engagement as a main sponsor in professional golf. “We’re pleased that all our efforts ahead of our first appearance on the European Tour have been so successful,” says Bernhard Maier, Member of the Executive Board, Sales and Marketing of Porsche AG. He continued, “In view of the excellent field, we can present spectators with golf of the very highest class. And we’ve integrated lots of ideas into the off-course sup­porting programme of events to offer our customers and other visitors a whole host of attrac­tive Porsche experiences.”

Visitors can test Porsche

Many current Porsche models are on show in the Public Village. Visitors can take their time and take a close look at them, receive advice from product specialists and, thanks to the Porsche Drive Programme, even test drive the cars on site. Bookable are three drives lasting 30, 60 and 180 minutes with a free choice of routes. Anybody interested can pre-order the desired Porsche for a test drive via on the online reservation tool (www.porsche.com/drive). In conjunction with the Porsche Brand Experience, many stories centred around Porsche will also be presented and the exceptional technology of the current Le-Mans winner, the Porsche 919, will additionally be on display. Porsche Driver’s Selection and Porsche Design will be offering a selection of their attractive range of products for real Porsche fans. Upon showing a Porsche car key, Porsche customers will also gain exclusive admittance to the Porsche Owners’ Lounge to relax in a pleasant atmosphere in between play.

Opening the event on Wednesday is the traditional Pro-Am tournament where celebrities, selected Porsche customers and invited guests have the chance to tee off with one of the tournament stars. One can also get a taste of the golf atmosphere at Munich Airport’s event site where the Golf & Kids Challenge will be taking place in conjunction with the “golf4goods” tournament charity up to the final day on Sunday.

Tradition comes alive again

The European Open has a long history and is one of the top tournaments on the European professional tour. The list of winner’s is studded with illustrious names such as Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie or Bernhard Langer. First played in 1978, the tournament was held close to London over the past few years. Now the big tradition has come alive again – as the second top tournament on the European Tour to be played on German soil. Bernhard Maier: “We looked all around the world for a suitable event for our engagement in professional golf. The European Open is the perfect match for the Porsche brand when it comes to tradition, exclusivity and sporting excellence.” The sports car maker has enjoyed a close association with golf for a long time now. For the past 27 years, Porsche has been organising the Porsche Golf Cup, a worldwide exclusive amateur tournament series for Porsche customers.