As the official title partner of the DP World Tour, DP World has been on a mission across the season to collect used and unwanted golf balls and give them a second life in grassroots golf projects around the world.
Unveiled at the Dubai Desert Classic in January, DP World created a revolutionary shipping container that has been steadily filling with golf balls from various stops across the DP World Tour season.
Along its journey, the second life container has stopped in Belgium, Holland, Sweden, France, the UK and has now come full circle, arriving back in Dubai for the season ending DP World Tour Championship taking place at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai.
The 130,024 golf balls have been collected in numerous ways, with donations from DP World Tour players, fans, professional golf ball divers, ball-collecting dogs, and children’s golf ball hunts.
It’s now time to give them a new life, with DP World joining forces with several golf organisations to support initiatives that provide a platform for the game of golf to grow around the world, making golf more accessible to all.
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DP World has focused on three key areas of growth for the sport – golf for the disabled, junior golf, and women’s golf – hoping to inspire and encourage more people to take up the sport.
The organisations that include projects in South Africa, Kenya, India, UAE and across Europe will now receive a proportion of the balls.
Representatives from all five organisations came together to celebrate the occasion ahead of the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
A proportion of golf balls will be distributed to the South African Disabled Golf Association (SADGA) and the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA), two organisations working to ensure the sport is fully inclusive.
Daniel van Otterdijk, Group Chief Communications Officer at DP World said: “Through our sponsorship of the DP World Tour, we wanted to find both a meaningful and memorable way to give back to the sport.
"This initiative has been a great way for DP World to showcase our logistics and supply chain capabilities and expertise. Now the collection has come full circle we are delighted to support organisations that need them most, helping share the joy of playing golf and celebrating that here in Dubai.
"We look forward to hearing about how the balls have been put to good use in growing the game around the world.”
Lily Reich, Operations Manager of the SADGA said: “At the South African Disabled Golf Association, we are desperate for golf balls so it’s incredible that DP World is able to help alleviate that financial pressure with this fantastic initiative.
"dGolf has afforded many of our members a second life in sport which aligns beautifully with the vision held by DP World.”
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