When I was a teenager in the early eighties there wasn't one of the local boys who didn't aspire to driving a BMW. This was the pinnacle of having 'made it'. A status symbol that would guarantee the girl of your choice would be riding beside you. Preferably black and preferably with blacked out windows, these cars could be seen doing regular laps of the town centre, much to the resident's annoyance.
When you think BMW, do you remember the young boys from years ago or do you think of the high powered businessman of today that drive their prized BMW's to work every day?
One thing that never crossed my mind when considering BMW was the world of golf. In fact, BMW have been holding their own golf tournaments since 1982, going professional in 1989 with their first BMW International Open. This saw them break into the world of professional golfing and heralded them making increasing success year after year.
Aside from the prize money for winning a BMW golf tournament is the tempting reward of a dream car if you succeed in getting a hole in one on a particular hole at each game. The first professional to achieve this was Jay Townsend in 1991 the BMW International Open. After obtaining his hole in one on the twelfth hole he was the lucky recipient of the keys to a BMW 325i Cabrio.
Another marker in the world of BMW golf came in 1992. The BMW International Open saw the one and only time when a total of five players had to battle it out for the prize money. It's the only time that this many players have been involved in a playoff at a PGA European Tour Event and it was eventually won by Paul Zinger 9the 2008 USA Ryder Cup captain). The other four were to take joint second place.
The BMW Asian Open golf tournament has recently taken place in Shanghai and was won by thirty nine year old Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland. His putt of about thirty foot on the eighteenth hole gave him a one shot victory over his opponent, Robert-Jan Derksen from the Netherlands.
Clarke had been in the top fifty players previously but had seen his position drop to 236 at the start of the BMW Asian Open. This was sadly due to his wife passing away in August 2006 and Clarke has had some major emotional hurdles to overcome to get back into his game. With two young sons to care for, this is a major feat for Clarke and his family must be immensely proud of him.
With his eleventh win, Clarke took home a staggering $383,000 for his time, although it has been a long, hard road. He says he has been practicing for ten to twelve hours a day to bring his game back up to speed and will continue to do this to regain his positioning the top fifty.
BMW are great believers in getting people into sport and to this end, offer scholarships to the most deserving and dedicated of young players. Their scholarship establishments have been in a class that have seen them at the top of this field and have earned them world-wide recognition for the part they play in helping young people achieve their goals and dreams.
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