Tour Championship
The PGA TOUR’s season-ending Tour Championship is one of the most important events in the calendar, marking the end of the year and offering a huge payday to the crowned FedExCup champion. Coca-Cola has been the title sponsor of the tournament, and one of their standout branding tactics is using six-packs of miniature thirst-inducing Coke bottles as tee markers.
Charles Schwab Challenge
Every May, the PGA TOUR’s Charles Schwab Challenge goes down at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. The financial services title sponsor uniquely rewards the winner, gifting them a tremendously restored car on top of a mouth-watering seven-figure check. With the car on offer changing every year, the tournament uses that year’s car as the tee marker to remind the players of what’s on the line.
Porsche European Open
Porsche became the title sponsor of the European Open in 2015, an event currently occurring at the Green Eagle Golf Courses in Germany. As expected, the German sports car maker takes marketing very seriously, including using stylish miniature Porsche cars as tee markers. Event attendees enjoy good golf as well as the luxury attached to Porsches.
Hero Indian Open
If you love bikes, watch out for the DP World Tour’s Hero Indian Open at DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi, India. Hero Honda Motors Ltd. is the event’s title sponsor, and as a mega manufacturer of bikes, it’s understandable that the tournament uses motorcycles as tee markers.
Turkish Airlines Open
Having covered tractors, trucks, cars, and motorcycles, our last entrant on the list uses airplanes as tee markers. The European Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open is the host tournament in question, played every November in Turkey. Naturally, the airline title sponsor prefers to use its model airplanes as tee markers for the event’s branding.
Parting Shot
Every title sponsor in a golf tournament expects a return on investment through marketing their products during the event. Tee markers have proven to be a very strategic and clever way of corporate branding, as they are manageable and distributed throughout the course.