PMG looks back at 2008
The past 12 months have witnessed growth for Parallel Media Group plc. With the successful staging and launch of the Ballantine’s Championship in March, celebrating the thrilling 50th UBS Hong Kong Open and consistently renewing and introducing blue chip sponsors to events; PMG has had a solid year.
With new territories for major events on the horizon and an involvement in the 2012 Games coming to London, PMG has more business to resume in the New Year.
At the end of the year, more sponsorship deals have been concluded including another contract with UPS to sponsor the Ballantine’s Championship
next year.
Over the past 12 months Parallel Media Group has promoted five golf events across Asia including the Ballantine’s Championship, the Kazakhstan Open, The Asian Miles Binhai Ladies Open, Saint Four Ladies Masters, the UBS Hong Kong Open and supported Omega’s involvement in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.
The highlight of 2008 for many would be the UBS Hong Kong Open in its 50th edition that drew record-breaking crowds in what was a gripping performance over the 20 – 23 of November. Some 40,000 people were in attendance at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling to see a sensational three-way playoff that ended with Lin Wen Tang of Taiwan being crowned champion.
On the sponsorship side of the Open, PMG added a new sponsor, UPS, and renewed contracts with BMW, Emirates and Rolex. These blue chips joined the top ranks of the following UBS Hong Kong Open sponsors: Hugo Boss, Samsung, PCCW (the telecommunications giant of Hong Kong), Jebsen, Ecco, AIA, Korean Ginseng, Heineken, Tibet Water, Verizon and Ballantine’s.
Recently in December, more sponsorship deals have been concluded including another contract with UPS to sponsor the Ballantine’s Championship next year.
A summary of each event follows. Here’s to another year successful year in 2009!
Ballantine’s Championship
As the first European Tour Event to be held in Korea, The Ballantine’s Championship commenced in March with PMG as the lead promoter to the whisky sponsor in an agreement of three-years. The tournament is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korean PGA and had a €2 million (US$2.9 million) purse prize. Held at the Pinx Golf Club on the picturesque island of Jeju, it drew the world’s top golfers.
Homegrown hero KJ Choi, British Open champion Padraig Harrington, World Cup winner Colin Montgomerie headlined the event, but it was Anthony Kim who in his first competitive golf appearance in Korea, impressed in his fifth place finish. Finally in an epic dual with Jeev Milkha Singh, Graeme McDowell birdied the third extra hole to win the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship on March 16.
The duo – level at the start of play – both carded six-under-par 66s to finish the €2 million (US$2.9 million) tournament on 24-under 264, seven shots clear of the field.
Ballantine’s chose to celebrate the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship with the creation of a unique milestone; a priceless 40 year old blended Scotch whisky. Only 8 bottles were produced given the extreme rarity of the Scotch whiskies in this blend, and as the overall winner of the Championship, Graeme McDowell received bottle number 1 of this rare and valuable whisky.
Ballantine’s, the world’s No.3 Scotch whisky, is title sponsoring the event for a minimum of three years.
The 2009 Championship will now take place from 23-26 April. This is a prime date on the European Tour and will mean greater benefits in terms of scheduling for players following the Volvo Open in Beijing.
Kazakhstan Open
After a successful three years of promoting the Kazakhstan Open, PMG renewed its agreement with the National Federation of Golf of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“NFGK”) as the exclusive promoter of international professional golf events in Kazakhstan, covering any professional golf tournaments held in the country until 2011.
This re-appointment of PMG by the NFGK further strengthens its relationship with the company, which has promoted the Kazakhstan Open since 2005, with prize money rising by over 30% during this period. The Kazakhstan Open is already the richest event on the Challenge Tour. This year the prize fund was raised Euros 100,000 for a grand total of Euros 430,000.
England’s Gary Lockerbie secured an immediate return to The European Tour with his first victory as a professional at the Kazakhstan Open.
The first prize is enough to ensure the entry into the top 20 of the Challenge Tour Rankings. The Kazakhstan Open is therefore an excellent platform for rising stars to spring from.
Binhai Open
In its first year of PMG sponsorship, the Ladies Binhai Open in Shanghai saw Korea’s 22-year old star, Hee Kyun Seo cinch a hat-trick in her victory.
The Open is co-sanctioned by the KLPGA, LAGT and the CGA and boasts a purse prize of USD 300,000.
Seo, shot a one-under 71 for a three day-total of 9-under 207, and this was more than enough to give the 22-year-old a five-stroke victory over joint second place winners -China's Tao Li Yang and England's Danielle Montgomery.
Saint Four Ladies Masters
The Saint Four Ladies Masters brought Europe’s best lady golfers to the Saint Four course, but the Korean women proved unmatched taking the top 14 places. The 22-year-old Korean talent, Hee Kyun Seo claimed another title following Binhai for her 14-under-par 202 victory at the inaugural tournament.
Seo has won five times on the KLPGA Tour this year.
PMG, working with its Korean partners Sportizen and JGolf, brought in a new title sponsor, Saint Four Golf Club, which also hosted the tournament, held November 14-16 on Jeju Island.
The new tournament was the first ever Ladies European Tour tournament to be played in Korea. The event which was co-sanctioned by the LET and the KLPGA, increased the overall LET calendar to a total of 29 events, the most in its history.
PMG are the exclusive International TV rights broker to the LET and continue to also act as their non-exclusive sales partner. PMG are also the exclusive promoter of the LET in Korea.
UBS Hong Kong Open
PMG has promoted the UBS Hong Kong Open since 2000, in what is one of the most elite tournaments in Asia. This year marked the Open’s 50th Anniversary and was celebrated for its historical legacy of prestige and top-quality golf.
Since the European Tour co-sanctioned the event in 2001, the stakes have been raised significantly to a prize of $2.25 million this year. The Hong Kong Open is in a unique position in that it will take place twice within the Race to Dubai, (formerly known as The European Tour Order of Merit), which was held in November 2008 and will finish in November 2009.
First held in 1959, the Open is Hong Kong’s oldest professional sporting event and is considered one of the “jewels in the crown” of Asian golf. Now in its 50th year, the UBS Hong Kong Open will be celebrating its legacy of prestige and competitive golf. The list of past champions reads like a who’s who of golf and includes golfing icons Peter Thomson, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington.
Lin’s victory in the 50th UBS Hong Kong Open book-ended the historic tournament perfectly – the inaugural winner in 1959 was another Taiwanese player, Lu Liang Huan.
Omega Mission Hills World Cup
Last year, PMG was proud to have initiated one of the largest sponsorship deals in the history of Golf with Omega’s 12 year commitment as title sponsor of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China, the large-scale tournament saw Sweden come from behind and take the Cup.
Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson of Sweden took a three-stroke victory in the, shooting a remarkable 9-under 63 to overtake third-round co-leaders Spain and Australia.
Parallel Media Group has a long and highly successful involvement with the World Cup, having been its promoter from 1987 to 1999. In 1995, PMG took the World Cup to China hosted by the Mission Hills Golf Club and thereby introduced the game of professional golf into the world’s most populous country.
PMG acts as the Worldwide Strategic Golf Consultant to Omega, in maximising the brand benefits of its association with golf and specifically the Omega Mission Hills World Cup of Golf.
