Bridgestone UK Driving Forward with Oxfordshire Golf Event

Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire is set to host up to 10,000 golf fans when the Challenge Tour returns to England for the first time since 2012 with the Bridgestone Challenge taking place near Chipping Norton from August 25th to 28th.

The Bridgestone Challenge event is one of three high profile golfing sponsorships for Bridgestone, with a competition for club players – the DriveGuard Trophy – also taking place in 2016 along with an official partner status of the European Tour’s British Masters event in October.

The decision to create the Bridgestone Challenge at Heythrop Park represents a significant change from more commonplace sports partnerships in the tyre industry, with Bridgestone keen to create a stage for emerging players to realise their dreams and play the game on the highest stage.

Such an incentive was crucial in Bridgestone’s decision to enter the world of golf, as the tyre manufacturer attempts to engage with players in a tangible way that will live long in the memory.

Bridgestone decided to embark on a golfing journey after a successful foray into the sport in 2015, where a tournament for amateur players yielded great exposure and significant interest in the company’s premium products.

2016 saw the event in partnering with England Golf, with courses across England invited to introduce the Bridgestone DriveGuard Trophy onto their calendars between March, April and May.  The competition was free to enter and accessible to all club golfers with regional winners going on to play in the pro-am of the Bridgestone Challenge event itself in August.

It has been named after an innovative new range of Bridgestone tyres called DriveGuard, which allow drivers to maintain control after a puncture and safely continue for 50 miles and speeds up to 50mph, or a safe destination to organise a replacement.

Bridgestone’s north region consumer sales and marketing director Farrell Dolan said: “We have identified huge potential from the world of golf and are extremely excited to be entering into a series of sponsorships covering such a broad range of the sport.

“Heythrop Park is a stunning location and we are thrilled to be staging an event here, in such a beautiful part of the world.

“The exposure we will generate from our Bridgestone Challenge title sponsorship is vast which will be making a welcome return to the golfing calendar after a three year absence.”

Alain de Soultrait, Challenge Tour Director, said: “We are delighted to be able to partner with Bridgestone and are excited to be bringing the Challenge Tour back to England, aided by the support of England Golf.

“The Challenge Tour offers the best way for talented young golfers to develop their professional game and a large number of our recent success stories have been English players.

“Major Champion Justin Rose and Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter both came through our ranks while Tommy Fleetwood and Andrew Johnston both finished top of the Challenge Tour Rankings in recent years.

“The commitment Bridgestone are showing to encourage the growth of the game in England will hopefully lead to similar success stories in future years, and there is no better place for talented youngsters to come and be inspired than the Bridgestone Challenge in August.”

For more information visit the Challenge Tour page in the European Tour website via: www.europeantour.com/challengetour/index.html