Continental is back in golf – and with its new venture BAL.ON here to stay.
Continental as Title Sponsor of the Elevated Event Within “European Long Drive Games”
With its smart golf training aid, the BAL.ON Smart Kit, the technology company will appear as title sponsor of the elevated event within the “European Long Drive Games” on 20th and 21st May 2023 at Golf-Club Burgwedel, not far from the corporate headquarters in Hanover. Admission is free, the show spectacular. The event will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Golf in Germany.
Long Drive, unlike traditional golf, is an adrenaline-fuelled and noisy event in which the participating athletes compete against each other in group stages and duels. At the end of the competition, only one thing counts: hitting the ball as far as possible down the grid, the 50-yard-wide target corridor. Reigning world champion Martin Borgmeier (GER), record holder for the longest drive (496 yards) Josh Koch (USA), record holder for the highest ball speed (240.8 mph) Sebastian Twaddell (AUS) and the current European champion Bry Roberts (WAL) will also be taking part in Burgwedel.
While preliminary rounds and qualifications will take place on Saturday, 20th May, and the following Sunday morning, the top 16 will compete for the title of the Continental Long Drive Open presented by BAL.ON on the afternoon of 21st May from 2pm. The four-hour title fight will be broadcast live in Germany on Sky Sport Golf and accompanied on site by Florian Bauer and Jonas Friedrich.
BAL.ON has equipped several athletes, including Borgmeier, with its training system, the BAL.ON Smart Kit, to better measure and analyse data in training and competition. “We have seen for some time how data science and biomechanics are shaping the training of long drive athletes. This makes our product an ideal addition in training and coaching,” says Felix Lindner, founder of BAL.ON. “From the beginning in the development of BAL.ON, we provided reference data for professionals, coaches, and teams. Now, to hopefully help some of the world’s best long drive athletes gain those crucial extra yards makes me proud.”
As a smart golf training tool, BAL.ON is a perfect match for the long drive sport, which has developed considerably over the past few years, especially due to advances in biomechanics. “Despite the cultural differences between traditional golf and long drive, both sports are increasingly inspiring each other,” says Jens Mundhenke, PGA Professional and sports scientist on the BAL.ON team. “Regardless of whether training for sheer length or tight dispersion – in both cases, athletes benefit from the cleanest possible technique. We want to utilize the sport of long drive to further develop our measurements and metrics and, in the end, help golfers hit it a whole lot better from tee to green.”
