Nike Golf Brings Speed Trials to The Open Championship

Nike Golf is bringing Speed Trials to The Open Championship, challenging golfers to test their current woods against Nike Golf’s award winning VR_S range.

Teaming up with St Anne’s Old Links in Lytham St Anne’s, members and visitors will have the opportunity to trial VR_S, where the golfer with the biggest yardage gain at the end of the day will win a VR_S hybrid.

Golfers at St Anne’s Old Links will be asked to compare the distance achieved with their current clubs to the new Nike VR_S products on a launch monitor. The cumulative distance from their best shots hit with the driver, fairway wood and hybrid will be recorded, with every golfer being issued with a ‘Speeding Ticket’ that details the yardage achieved for each club, and the distance gains measured against their old equipment.

Results of the speed trials will be displayed daily on leaderboards and all participants will be entered into a draw to win an invitation to attend a VIP golf day with 2011 US Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel.

Nike Golf will also be putting on speed trials and putting lessons for the junior members at St Anne’s Old Links, with winners from these receiving a custom fit Method putter. Golfers playing during the week will be invited to take part in a long drive competition with daily prizes of Nike Golf’s revolutionary 20XI ball.

Said Dan Webster of St Anne’s Old Links “We are delighted that Nike Golf has partnered with us during The Open Championship.  The speed trials are an exciting prospect and really add benefit and excitement to our members and guests. It’s going to be a great week.”

For the last few months’ golfers across the globe have been putting their current clubs up against Nike Golf’s fastest line up of clubs ever, and the numbers speak for themselves.

The clubs were found guilty on all counts of hitting the ball further than was possible with each players’ own equipment, with a global yardage gain of an eye-popping 284,720 yards. To put it another way, our brave ball-busting trialists have combined to bag yardage gains equivalent to 40 times the length of Royal Lytham St Anne’s, home to this week’s Open Championship, or, for the athletes among you, four-and-a-half times longer than the marathon (that’s just over 115 miles, if you’re wondering). While for astrophysicists, that’s well beyond the stratosphere, and deep into the mesosphere!

Visitors to St Anne’s Old Links and The Open Championship are free to drop in to take a Nike Golf speed trial at their leisure.