Maiden FootJoy Walk of Champions winner

After nearly 10,000 completed rounds of golf and 97,400,000 steps walked, the inaugural season-long FootJoy Walk of Champions culminated in a grand finale at World Golf Championship and European Tour host venue, The Grove. The eight qualifiers were the players from the UK and Ireland who had walked the most on-course steps, on the Hole19 GPS and Scoring APP, throughout the 2017 season. Marek Baldwin from Saddleworth Golf Club, was crowned the inaugural FJ Walk of Champions winner.

The initiative was a joint effort between FJ and Hole19 to encourage golf participation and promote health and fitness. Utilising Hole19’s GPS technology to monitor the number of steps its users were walking, golfers were rewarded throughout the season with monthly prizes from FJ to encourage participation. The most active players both over the entire season and on one single day were then rewarded with a head-to-toe makeover from FJ at The Grove, as well as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet three-time European Tour winner and FJ ambassador, Andy Sullivan, who conducted a Q&A and clinic for the guests.

“The first FJ Walk of Champions has been a remarkable success. We wanted to do something new and exciting, with a progressive company such as Hole19, in order to get people walking and playing more golf,” noted Paul O’Hagan, FJ Marketing Manager. “We’re always on the lookout for ways to reach out to golfers, so to be able to connect with Hole19 users this year and offer them the opportunity to try our products and meet with one of our ambassadors has been great.”

Marek Baldwin, inaugural FJ Walk of Champions winner, said “It’s been really enjoyable competing in this all season, watching my step count go up-and-up. Today has been a fantastic way to cap it all off! Playing The Grove was a special experience and the clinic with Andy Sullivan was an amazing surprise - we had no idea he’d be here! I’d like to extend a huge thank you to FJ and Hole19 for making it happen.”

Anthony Douglas, CEO and Founder of Hole19 said: “We’re delighted with the first season of the FJ Walk of Champions - connecting our energetic and innovative brand with an equally forward-thinking, but renowned, brand such as FJ. We have such an array of golfers, from club members to nomads, who love the game equally and to produce a competition that all of them, regardless of golfing ability, could take part in is exactly why we do what we do.”

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