33 members from eight markets – and one destination: St Andrews on Scotland’s east coast. The Porsche Golf Circle crowned a thrilling year with the trip to the Home of Golf. The highlight of the three wonderful days was a highly emotional round on the Old Course, the world’s oldest still existing course. Arguably also the world’s most famous course, it was the venue for this summer’s historic 150th Open Championship. Also on the schedule for the highly enthusiastic Community was an another exceptional round on the world famous Kingsbarns course, the venue for numerous top class tournaments, and fabulous evening events in selected locations in the beautiful university town.
“The trip to St Andrews was an indescribably wonderful culmination to the Porsche Golf Circle’s year. Members from eight markets and four continents united in their common passion for the legendary location and its history – feeling the elation and being a part of everything is a priceless experience,” says Sebastian Mertke, Manager Global Community Management at Porsche AG. “The emotional spirit of the Community is unique and we’re looking forward to further exciting Porsche Golf Circle events in 2023.”
Round on the Old Course
The 28 golfers from the USA, Mexico, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany markets will above all remember their round on the Old Course in excellent conditions – an exclusive opportunity and a dream of all the world’s golfers. In doing so, every member had the pleasure of being accompanied by a local caddy who, over the 18 holes, gave them important course management tips and insights into the ins and outs of the Old Course.
In lead-up to the unique round in the historic setting with the monumental clubhouse belonging to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the nervousness was tangible amongst all the participants. “It’s a dream that’s finally being fulfilled,” enthused the Mexican Karen Schmidt. “I had tears in my eyes after the first shot, it was so overwhelming. What a gift to be able to experience this unbelievable day.”
Links conditions on the Kingsbarns Golf Links
One day before in wind and drizzle, the Porsche Golf Circle members found out about typical links conditions when playing the famous Kingsbarns Golf Links whose holes wind their way wonderfully through the dune landscape on the spectacular North Sea coast. “It was basically a fantastic event,” said an overjoyed Craig Coghlan from Australia. “Quite special, so unforgettable.”
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The moments of great pleasure on the exceptional golf courses were complemented by the wonderful convivial time spent in the midst of the Community. Based in the Old Course Hotel with a view of the magnificent holes on the St Andrews Links courses, the participants discovered other enthralling locations in the town during the evening events and savoured the outstanding culinary delights. Additionally, the members had the opportunity to create, and take home, their own personal whisky at a whisky blending – a one-off that symbolised an unforgettable trip to a unique location with like-minded persons from all over the world.
The trip to St Andrews provided a fabulous finale to a Porsche Golf Circle year full of memorable events. In February, members headed for Levi in Finland where the Porsche Ice Experience participants learnt about driving on snow and ice and played golf in minus 25 degrees on a snow-covered course at the Levi Golf Club. At the start of June, the Porsche Golf Circle invited its members to Hamburg to gain a special insight into the world of professional golf and to go round the course side by side with some world class golfers.
Porsche Golf Circle Festival in Mallorca
Also in June, the Community descended on Mallorca for the one-day Porsche Golf Circle Festival and celebrated their passions for Porsche and golf plus the summer in the “The Porsche Way” at the Club de Golf Alcanada – with a golf tournament, live music acts, drinks, exclusive merchandising and an amazing BBQ with a view of the Mediterranean and the famous Alcanada lighthouse.
October also marked the launching of the new Porsche Golf Circle app that networks the Community enabling them to exchange views about their passions of Porsche and golf and share and comment on their golfing experiences. Awaiting the members there are exciting stories and videos, tutorials from world class experts – exclusive content specifically tailored to the interests of the Community.
Porsche in golf
Porsche has been involved successfully in professional golf since 2015 as the title sponsor of the Porsche European Open, a DP World Tour event. In 2019, the sports car manufacturer expanded its engagement with automotive partnerships at tournaments on the Asian tour and the DP World Tour. Porsche can also look back on a more than three decades long history of the Porsche Golf Cup. The tournament series is one of the company’s most successful customer events. Held for the first time in Germany in 1988, the Porsche Golf Cup has developed into an international event in which over 17,000 Porsche customers recently took part in 261 worldwide qualifying tournaments. Also highly successful is the Porsche Golf Circle, an international community for keen golf-playing Porsche customers that was launched in 2017. In the meantime, the Porsche Golf Circle has over 4,000 members.