By GENE YASUDA
Deputy Editor/Business & MultimediaKodak moments” and scenic golf holes go hand-in-hand. And soon, $1 million will be handed to one fortunate PGA Tour player.
As if Tour purses weren’t incentive enough, a sponsorship initiative created by Eastman Kodak Co. and the PGA Tour will offer the prize to the winner of the inaugural Kodak Challenge.
Beginning in 2009, the Tour player who posts the lowest score relative to par over 18 “Kodak holes” – to be chosen from select tournaments throughout the season – earns the winner-take-all reward. Competition at the Kodak holes will be incorporated into tournament broadcasts, to some degree copying the way FedEx Cup standings are mentioned now, according to Tom Wade, the Tour’s chief marketing officer.
For Kodak, the initiative underscores the mission the company has pursued for more than a century – preserving memorable moments. It’s also designed to help recast Kodak as a leader in imaging technology and not just as a film manufacturer.
“We want to expose the great attributes of an iconic brand,” said Jeff Hayzlett, Kodak’s chief business development officer. The company is still planning ways to extend the Kodak Challenge to consumers and introduce new products and services to them. Among the possibilities: loading images of Kodak holes onto digital picture frames. A variety of social networking opportunities also will be available at kodakchallenge.com.
“People will get the connection very, very quickly,” Hayzlett said.
To help select the Kodak holes, which will be announced later this year, the company has formed an advisory board. Among its members: course architect and “U.S. Open doctor” Rees Jones, golf photographer Jules Alexander and CBS Sports broadcast analyst David Feherty. The board will pick at least 24 Kodak holes, primarily for their aesthetic beauty, but other factors such as historical significance also may play a role in selection.
If challenge participants play more than 18 holes, they can discard the holes at which they score worst. Players who make the cut at tournaments featuring a Kodak hole also have an advantage; they’ll have four opportunities rather than two to post their best score at the hole.
Tour officials insist the Kodak Challenge will be “woven” into broadcasts so it doesn’t intrude upon the fan-viewing experience. And they think it’ll add another element of interest to Tour events.
Said Wade: “As the leaders really start to take shape in the fall, it’s going to become a pretty big thing.”
• • •
Gene Yasuda is
Golfweek’s deputy editor/Business & Multimedia. To reach him e-mail
gyasuda@golfweek.com.
Posted: 6/30/2008
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