The world finals of the Volkswagen Masters took place in Kleinmond, South Africa, last week. 46 golfers from 16 nations, among them the six winners of the German finals, competed for the trophy on one of South Africa’s most magnificent courses.
In nigh-to perfect conditions, one particular contestant had an especially good day: Tan Feldmann from Singapore. The 20-year-old with a handicap of 0 delighted the crowd as a true long hitter on the par 72 left course, earning his top position on the gross score table with 76 shots. The contest for second place was particularly exciting, with two players closing this last round of play with 78 shots. The runner-up by scorecard was Alfredo Baertl from Peru (Hcp +1), followed by Sweden’s Mikael Cederholm (Hcp 4). The best German player of the competition was Christian Wißotzki (Hcp 3), who finished the day with a gross score of 81 shots.
The net score category A was won by the South Korean Chi Yul Kim (Hcp 12), who led the field with 67 net shots. The runner-up in this class was Jorge A. Barrios from Colombia (Hcp 14) with 68 shots. The winner in the net score category B was Sung-Kun Kim (Hcp 19), also from South Korea, scoring 47 Stableford points ahead of Mark Theseira from Singapore (Hcp 20) with 45 Stableford points.
The longest shot of the day was delivered by Andres Lopez from Colombia at the 18th hole, who thus won the special "Longest Drive" prize. The "Nearest to the Pin" prize went to Robert Domey from the Netherlands, whose tee-off at hole no. five was the best in show.
The two days of competition came to a festive close at a gala dinner held at the Western Cape Hotel. Lutz Kothe, head of Volkswagen sponsoring, co-operations, motorshows & events, and Claudia Krutzenbichler, golf coordinator, handed the trophies and other valuable material prizes to the winners.
Over the course of this year, a total of 220 tournaments were held in 20 countries around the world – eight more than last year. "The significant growth in the number of tournaments and the extensive interest of golfers in the competition are a clear indication to us that the Volkswagen Masters has now successfully established itself internationally," said Rainer Brensing, head of Volkswagen events and sponsoring. And the Sponsoring Survey 2005/2006 conducted by Ipsos, a renowned market-research institute, produced positive findings as well. Although the Volkswagen Masters was only initially launched in 2003, it already achieves a high awareness rating in the population. In fact, the Volkswagen Masters series of tournaments was among the top 10 national sporting events named by respondents in aided-awareness questioning.