OREANDA-NEWS. November 16, 2015. South Africa’s oldest golf tournament – and the world’s second oldest Open Championship – will now officially be known as the BMW SA Open Championship. The tournament, which celebrates its 105th anniversary in 2016, is joining forces with the luxury German automaker which is one of the professional game’s most significant sponsors on a global level. The first BMW SA Open Championship will be held January 7th - 10th, 2016 (Glendower Golf Club, Johannesburg).

BMW has a long history of being involved in sports which require a unique combination of power, precision and efficiency to succeed. Globally, BMW has been a significant partner of professional golf since 1989 with signature tournaments on almost all of the major PGA tours worldwide. The title partnership for the BMW SA Open Championship underlines the particularly strong link to the PGA European Tour, which BMW supports as “Official Partner”.

“Sports such as motorsport, sailing and golf are key global sponsorship pillars for the BMW brand. With this in mind, this local sponsorship initiative – which mirrors the brand’s global sponsorship strategy – sees BMW become the overall naming rights partner of the SA Open Championship. In addition, it gives the brand the opportunity to consolidate its position in golf with a signature event that we hope will grow over time to become the biggest professional event in South African golf,” said Tim Abbott, Managing Director, BMW Group South Africa.

At the same time, BMW will become the official vehicle partner to the Sunshine Tour. “We will be providing vehicles for the tour officials to deliver a world-class professional golf series in South Africa, as well as the opportunity to activate our brand at all Sunshine Tour official tournaments should we wish to do so,” added Abbott. “We have signed a long-term deal with the Sunshine Tour in the current format and are confident that this will be the start of a very long and successful engagement with the world’s second oldest Open Championship.”