New fan game ‘Your Race to Dubai’ enables golfers to take on top tour pros in match play every week.
Golfers simply challenge the stars of The European Tour to a match play game and record their own scores using the live-scoring Golf GameBook app, then earn ranking points based on each match’s outcome.
Major winners McIlroy, Rose, Mcdowell and Kaymer are among the first European Tour pros available to challenge.
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The pros’ scores will be updated automatically on the Golf GameBook app, so fans watching tournament rounds will know in real time whether they are up or down in their match play.
The app has been specially configured to automatically adjust for amateur handicaps as well as the different courses being played by the tour pros.
“Technology and social media have brought fans closer than ever to their heroes,” said marketing communications director of The European Tour, Tim Hunt.
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“Now, with Your Race to Dubai, golfers can go a step further and compete week-after-week with the stars of the game playing on The European Tour.”
Each week, before a European Tour event, the pros available to challenge on Your Race to Dubai are updated, with 10 contesting that week’s event.
It’s fun that golfers around the globe can now play against me this week" – Mikko Ilonen These will be made up of five from the top of the latest Race to Dubai ranking and five additional wild cards.
Among the wild cards for the first week of Your Race to Dubai is Mikko Ilonen, a five-time European Tour winner including the 2014 Volvo World Match Play Championship.
Ilonen said: From my experience of playing with golfers in Pro-Ams, people get a kick out of going up against a tour pro and Your Race to Dubai is a fantastic means of opening this experience up to a global audience.
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It’s fun that golfers around the globe can now play against me this week. I have already been contacted by golfers at my local club in Finland who have been practising in preparation of challenging me, so there will be some pressure on me there!
The launch of Your Race to Dubai coincides with The European Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Surrey, May 21-24.
