Whisky For Tee

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National Cover Story

Whisky For Tee
The McDowell's Signature Club Golf Championship is India's largest Inter-Club
golf Event.
By Our Correspondent

The New Sign of Success, McDowell’s Signature has been closely associated with the sought-after sport of golf. Once a niche sport, golf has expanded in its reach and appeal.
McDowell’s Signature has fostered its association with golf with McDowell’s Signa-ture Celebrity Golf, which is golf for a cause; McDow-ell’s Signature Club Golf Championship, a one-of-its-kind tournament in India attracting participation from India’s top golf clubs. And of course, the association is further consolidated with McDowell’s Signature World Cup of Golfing Cricketers, another pioneering event, by creating a platform for successful cricketers of yesteryears from eight test playing nations.
In its fourth leg, the McDowell’s Signature Club Golf Championship 2005 witnessed great excitement as the Noida Golf Course won the all-India finals at the lush greens of the Pine Hurst Golf & Country Club, one of the elegant courses of Bangkok.
“The McDowell’s Signa-ture Club Golf Champion-ship attracts vast participation. This year witnessed participation by more than 4000 golfers from 30 golf clubs across 20 cities around the country making it the largest of its kind in the country,” said Vijay Rekhi, president, UB Group Spirits Division.
To ensure wider participation, the tournament was played in a three-tier format: Stage one, the intra-club stage was where participating club members played among each other to select the club team. There were three handicap categories 0-8 (played on gross stable ford), 9-16 and 17-24 (played on 3/4th nett stable ford). The winners and runners-up from each handicap category formed the six-member club team.
At stage two, regional finals, club teams battled it out among the other clubs of the region to decide the regional champions.
In stage three, the finals, four regional champion clubs were pitted against each other at Bangkok to decide the McDowell’s Signature Champion Golf Club of India.
“This brand property is aimed at fostering the brand’s association with the premium and aspirational game of golf, which is very quickly gaining in popularity among the country’s successful young adults,” said Rekhi.
“On the fairway, it is not who you are, but what you can do that counts. This emotion uniquely captures the essence of our brand – for the young and successful who have created wealth by changing business paradigms, instead of just acquiring it,” said Alok Gupta, executive vice president, marketing, UB Group Spirits Division.
Apart from the premium imagery that golf helped the brand project, the Signature blend will be the cornerstone of the brand’s identity.
McDowell’s Signature won global acclaim for its blend, winning an award at the prestigious ‘Concours Mondial de Bruxelles’. It was also awarded the ‘Best in Class’ Award at the Annual International Wine & Spirits Competition held in the UK.