Behind the Scenes at the Hero Challenge with Provision Events

The European Tour's final 'Hero Challenge' of the season was played this past week in Dubai, with the spectacular Atlantic Palm Resort serving as a striking backdrop. Several of the best golfers in the world hit their shots towards a Provision Events designed floating green. Li Haotong was ultimately victorious in the relaxed and entertaining format, but this is a chance to get a touch of insight behind the process of building the stage for the event.

After the excitement had died down, Nick Clemens, founder of PVE commented, “What European Tour has done with the Hero Challenge is fantastic for golf. It’s exciting and brings in crowds that wouldn’t normally come to the golf. I can assure you though, when you turn up days before to the empty beach and expanse of the Arabian Gulf, you just have to keep that end result in mind and get stuck in to the hard work.”

The team at PVE had responsibility for the floating green, one of the key elements of the challenge. While the finished article looked impressive under the lights, Clemens explains that creating the perfect landing area took a real attention to detail. “With the spotlights on and the cameras focussing tight, every detail of the landing area had to be just right. Painting a perfectly round target and evenly spaced scoring zones, keeping the branding prominent while not interfering with the golf, even getting the grass length right so balls didn’t just bounce off or get stuck, it took a lot of planning and precision to deliver the finished product. It was a testing, technical build but once you see the finished event, these are the activations that bring the most satisfaction.” 

The spectacle of the ‘Hero Challenge’ has been one of the talking points of the European Tour season but it’s only with the expertise of companies such as PVE that they can come to life in such an engaging way. Mark Casey, Hero Challenge Project Director, appreciates that fact and comments, “A big thank you for the support and effort from the PVE team in the planning and execution of the green for the event.”

PVE now move off the beach and back on to the course where they will provide the fan experience area for the Race to Dubai finale – the DP World Championship.

For more information on Provision Events, visit www.provisionevents.co.uk.