Editor's letter: Why the golf course is a key battleground for BMW

The golf club car park has long been a battleground for premium car makers, yet in an era where brand loyalty is diminishing and newcomers are circling around the established players, the sport is being used in an altogether different way. Golf offers something unique in sport in allowing amateur players to play in the same sporting arenas as legends of the game. While you can’t go and take a penalty from the same place as Harry Kane at Wembley, hit a six like Ben Stokes at Lord’s or serve an ace like Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, you can go and play St Andrews or Pebble Beach and attempt the same winning putt as Rory McIlroy. Car makers recognise that and are now hosting their own tournaments on a vast international scale at some of the world’s best courses, designed solely for customers, rather than corporate entertainment. More than 200,000 car buyers will take part in amateur golf tournaments organised by car companies this year. So big have these events become that they're now the largest in the world for amateur golf, thus opening up another front on which car makers can do battle. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are among those offering competitions organised with customer retention firmly in mind. They offer not only epic prizes but also, more memorably, “truly money-can’t-buy experiences”, as Mercedes puts it. Many of these tournaments have evolved from traditional sponsorship deals that these German brands have had with golf tournaments - and now newcomer Genesis is getting in on the act, with its headline sponsorship of the Scottish Open each July. The Korean firm is following a path well travelled. Yet no car maker has gone so far as to copy JCB in building its own golf course, as the construction machinery giant has done next to its Staffordshire base. Give it time… BMW’s roots in golf perhaps run deepest in the UK, through its 20-year-old headline sponsorship of the biggest professional tournament in the UK, the PGA Championship at Wentworth (previously sponsored by Toyota and Volvo), and with more than 90% of its retailers having proactively engaged in partnerships with local golf clubs. These are used both as venues for qualifying rounds for BMW’s own International Golf Cup (claimed to be the world’s largest amateur golf tournament, the next edition of which will culminate in Bangkok) and for EV test-drive events and product placement. The goal is to not only retain and look after existing customers but also use golf clubs as a platform to promote cars to potential new customers. “Golf for BMW is not just a logo on a trophy but creating memories to unite people and share unforgettable moments,” said Tim Holzmüller, who runs BMW Group’s sport communications. “We don’t just present a brand but [also] develop a brand and brand engagements. We want to leave an impact beyond something on the course or at an event.” Audi claims its Quattro Cup, established in 1991, is also the largest single global amateur tournament in the world (let’s call it a tie with BMW). Each year, some 70,000 customers from 38 countries compete across 600 tournaments, whittled down to a final that has been staged at the likes of the Earth Course in Dubai and the Ryder Cup 2023 host venue, the Marco Simone Club in Rome. The stakes rise quickly for the 16,000 customers who enter the Porsche Golf Cup. A top-two finish at a regional qualifying for around 35 customers gets you (and a plus one) a two-night trip to a national final competition, this year taking place at the home of golf, St Andrews in Scotland. There you can compete for a Tag Heuer watch and a place at the global final, most recently held in Mallorca. While Mercedes UK opts out of the Mercedes Trophy, there are still 60,000 Mercedes customers taking part in it each year from more than 60 different countries. One of the opportunities offered by Mercedes is a chance to play the host course of the The Open (which Mercedes partners) the day after the Champion Golfer of the Year has lifted The Claret Jug on the very same fairways. Not your typical optional extra on a new E-Class.