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IN order to boost its popularity by appealing to fans unwilling to spend five full days watching and reading the nuances of every delivery, cricket created the limited overs format which, at this point in time, has culminated in the T20 bash. Now golf is getting in on the act.
Powerplay Golf has been around for a couple of years, but it's about to go global following the signing of sponsorship and TV deals. Played over nine holes, with two flags on every green, golfers use a limited number of 'Powerplays' to score extra points when aiming at the harder Black Flag, creating an exciting risk-reward feature on each hole.
To any golfer with limited ability, the thought of having two holes to aim at on the same green temporarily sounds like a blessing. Unfortunately, you have to nominate in advance the hole you are aiming for!
John Wilson, The Royal Golf Club's golf events key accounts manager, told GulfWeekly: "Powerplay Golf is no stranger to Bahrain with the Royal Golf Club classed as an Official Powerplay Golf Venue.
"The Wee Monty course has played host to the Ramadan Powerplay Series in both 2009 and 2010 and will return in Ramadan this year too. We also staged Powerplay events during the Gulf Air PGA Pro Captain Challenge International Grand Finals in 2008 and 2009."
Saab has agreed to sponsor three events of PowerplayGolf: Ignition, which will be screened on Sky Sports and syndicated around the world.
The opening competition will be held in Wales UK, at the Celtic Manor course. It is therefore fitting that captain, Royal Golf Club course designer at Riffa Views, Colin Montgomerie, will head an international field of 12 golfers. Others participating will be Bahrain Open Champion Paul Casey, Graeme MacDowell and Ian Poulter.
The following events will held in Asia on November 7 with the final edition of the year to be held in the US on November 25.
