Registration commences for ‘Best Corporate Tournament’
Over 1000 business leaders across the Middle East and South Africa expected to participate in 2014 edition
Dubai, UAE: The region’s most popular, award winning corporate tournament and the largest corporate networking event on the greens, the Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge, has announced the opening of player registration for the 2014 edition.
Avid Executive golfers are invited to form a company 2-ball team and register online through the tournament’s brand new website, www.xeroxcgc.com, and details of all qualifying rounds (including format) will also be available on the site. Now in its 16th year, the event will have qualifying rounds in leading golf courses across the Middle East and South Africa, with a 2-day grand final on two iconic golf courses, Tower Links Golf Club and Al Hamra Golf Club, and overnight stay in the magnificent Waldorf Astoria, in the region’s emerging golf destination, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.
Andrew Horne, General Manager Xerox Emirates, said: “The 2014 edition of the Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge builds on our strong golf experience over the last 16 years, and this year brings many exciting new experiences for all participants with our 2014 vision of bringing ‘Corporate back into Corporate Golf’. We also aim to raise funds for a leading charity with outstanding global reach and impact, the Noor Dubai Foundation, to hopefully support running a mobile eye camp in a developing part of the world.”
The 2014 Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge is supporting the Noor Dubai Foundation, an organization that works towards a vision of a world free of avoidable blindness, primarily in developing countries. The Challenge aims to raise a sum of US$60,000 during the 2014 edition, which is the cost of one mobile Eye Camp that can deliver 4,000 treatments and up to 500 surgeries for the needy.
Craig McConnon, Managing Director, Prestige Wealth Solutions – one of the Challenge’s new sponsors – believes the vision of this year’s series will bring two-fold benefits to those supporting and playing. “We’re proud to be associated with the Noor Dubai Foundation and fully support their pioneering efforts to cure preventable blindness and improve the lives of those affected. Our offices are located strategically and spread across the Middle East and Africa, and we’re very pleased to be sponsoring the 2014 Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge” he said.
The first qualifying round of the 2014 Challenge will be held on Thursday, April 3, 2014, at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, Dubai, UAE, and the second qualifier will be on Thursday, April 24, 2014, at the Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, UAE. After this, qualifiers will be held in Doha, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, with dates to be announced.
Cheryl Gleeson, Marketing Manager Middle East and Africa at Skandia International commented, “We are proud to co-sponsor the 2014 Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge. Building strong brand recognition across the markets we operate in is important to help us achieve our aim of being recognised as a leading investment business. Our sponsorship of the Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge provides a great opportunity to increase awareness among our target markets. We look forward to working with Xerox to build on the success of the Corporate Golf Challenge, and continuing to deliver a highly respected, enjoyable tournament.”
2014’s Challenge brings with it an exciting field of sponsors, including Prestige Wealth Solutions (PWS – the Dubai-based firm of financial advisers), Skandia International (part of Old Mutual Wealth) and long-time supporter Ecco. Event partners are Crystal Gallery, ProGolf International, Dubai Golf, and OnSide Sports, and with Golf Digest, Sport 360, Arabian Golf TV, and UAE Golf Online as media partners for this year.
The Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge is proud to partner with Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Tourism Authority, the Waldorf Astoria, Tower Links Golf Club and Al Hamra Golf Club, all in RAK, as series destination partners, who will host the Grand Final event in December in a promising unmatched 2-day weekend experience.
ABOUT XEROX CORPORATE GOLF CHALLENGE:
The Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge began 16 years ago in the UAE in 1997 and was supported by the UAE Golf Association. Since then, the event has grown to become one of the region’s most prestigious and leading sporting events in the golf environment, with the objective of providing companies with a platform of mixing business with pleasure.
The tournament started with only 3 qualifying rounds, an additional round was added in 2001, and that number doubled to 8 in 2005. Between 2006 and 2012, the concept was rolled out in other regional countries such as: Saudi Arabia, Oman, Lebanon, Qatar, and Bahrain to name a few. As a result, the event is now a regional network of national amateur golf tournaments promoted and run independently and has been awarded three times as the Best Corporate Golf Challenge in the Middle East with the latest award being in 2013. The winners of the qualifying rounds from each territory compete in the Grand Final for the Grand Prize. Winning prizes have ranged from a place in the Kenya Open Pro-Am Tournament, a place in the Dubai Desert Classic Pro-Am, a place in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship Pro-Am, and a life-time experience trip to the Open Championship 2012 at Royal Lytham and St Annes.