Introducing The NEXT Golf Tour - Virtual Golf Series

The NEXT Golf Tour looks to freshen up the professional golf industry by offering events that are competed exclusively on simulators, through their 2023 Virtual Golf series.

TrackMan will partner the tour and it will act as a supplement to the current batch of professional tours, as opposed to an alternative.

What is The NEXT Golf Tour?

The NEXT Golf Tour is a new virtual golf series for elite amateurs and new professionals, wherein it will feature purses in excess of $100,000 for each of its inaugural six events.

TrackMan noted that The NEXT Golf Tour was created to give elite players the opportunity to develop their golf games.

All tournaments are contested on TrackMan virtual courses from the real world, with notable inclusions such as PGA West, The Concession and Medinah.

Entry for each event is $130 and the winner of the first five events will be rewarded nearly $20,000 in prize money.

Additionally, there are bonus prizes for other games such as longest drive, aggregate closest to the pin and various social media categories.

After the initial five events, the top 100 players will progress to the Season Finale, which will offer another $100,000 in prize money – plus an extra $50,000 to be shared amongst the top 10.

Tournament Rules

The entire schedule is split across six events, with the final one acting as the Tour Championship for the top 100 players.

A field size of 250 will be present for the first two events, but the number of entrants will be adjusted for events 3 – 5.

Each competition is competed in the same manner as a traditional outdoor tournament.

A player must not start a tournament with more than 14 clubs. However, if a player starts with fewer than 14 clubs – or damages a club in the regular course of play – they will be able to replace the club providing it does not exceed the 14-club limit.

Furthermore, players are not permitted to use alignment sticks or any other object that aids performance.

Putting will be handled automatically for all tournaments and it will be calculated based on proximity to the hole.

• 9 feet = 1 putt
• 9 feet – 60 feet = 2 putts
• 60 feet+ = 3 putts

Prize Money

A minimum purse of $100,000 is guaranteed for the first five events, plus the accumulated entry fees (excluding VAT).

For a 250-strong field, the total purse will be $125,000 – with $35,000 being reserved for the side games (longest drive, etc.).

The remaining $90,000 will be distributed to the top 30% of the field and tiebreaker rules will apply.

Players who finish inside the seasonal top 10 will be awarded an additional monetary prize, with the winner of the six-event schedule scooping $15,000 for their efforts.

How to Play

Players who are interested in The NEXT Golf Tour will need to create a TrackMan account and register through the tournament website.

When arriving at the simulator, players will need to sign into their TrackMan account and then select “NEXT Golf Tour Tournament [1-6]”.

The course will then load in tournament condition and no changes can be made to the set up.

A tutorial has been created to help golfers understand how to enter and play in the events, which you can access through the tour’s website.

Just like traditional rounds, players will be able to play a practice round before the official competition begins.

The course settings will be available to all participants at least two weeks in advance of the tournament, and it will include pin position difficulty, wind conditions, firmness of greens and other useful information.

When you are ready to complete your competitive round, simply set up your phone so both yourself and the screen are fully visible.

All players will be required to complete the round in one session before uploading their recording to trackman.wetransfer.com.

The NEXT Golf Tour will offer more competition for up-and-coming professionals, which will act as perfect preparation with the golfing season on the horizon.

For anyone competing on The NEXT Golf Tour this year, good luck!

For more information visit: www.nextgolftour.com