The Golf Challenge app revolutionises golf for all players

Golf Challenge is a new way to play golf, when practising or playing a tournament at your local club. Golf Challenge carries the tagline: Play Today. 

The idea is simple, how long do you want to Play Today?

Want to hold a three-hour tournament for 144 players? Simply play a six-hole Course Challenge combined with three Putting Challenges; three Up and Down Challenges; three Bunker Challenges and three NTP Challenges. So, you can play all 18 holes in less than three hours with a shotgun start for teams of two to eight players. Imagine that – a golf event playing all 18 holes, with 144 players in less than three hours?

Want to play for an hour with a couple of mates? Simply play a three-hole Course Challenge combined with a single Putting, Bunker and NTP Challenge. All Challenges are played on the same three holes in less than an hour.

Always 100 points per Challenge

The scoring system is simple and designed for the digital age, using the Golf Challenge app. You score a maximum 100 points per challenge, always 100 points, so maximum points equals 100 percent – so you can track your performance while having fun playing the different challenges. A wildcard allows the player to choose their favourite challenge to play for double points.

Golf Challenge for tour pros

Blake Windred is a second-year tour pro from Newcastle plying his trade on the Challenge Tour in Europe. He is an ambassador for Golf Challenge and likes the way the app channels his competitive instincts away from the circuit.

 As a tour pro, what do you see as the main benefits of Golf Challenge?

“I use the Golf Challenge app when I’m not competing. It’s a great way to practise under pressure with purpose.”

How should amateur golfers use it?

“It’s a great way for amateurs to practise because it gives purpose to your practice. Competing is everything in golf and this app allows you to grow familiar with that.”

Which is your favourite feature or test in the app?

“Competing against my mates on the live leaderboard is my favourite thing about
 the app.”

 You’re 23. From a young golfer’s perspective, is technology like Golf Challenge a natural way for golf to evolve while still maintaining the traditions of a sport that’s centuries old?

“Absolutely. It’s a great way to play golf and with the Golf Challenge team behind it, I think it will grow in the coming years.”

An App for all golfers

Khan Pullen, Golf NSW’s High Performance manager, sees two primary benefits in the Golf Challenge app. First are the competitive opportunities the app provides to keep elite-level players engaged outside tournament weeks and second is to use the app as a handy way of charting improvement.

“It was a form of competition the guys could do at home in practice,” Pullen says of the NSW high-performance squad, which includes names such as Jeffrey Guan, Belinda Ji and Harrison Crowe. “It’s the competitive nature of it, which the squad really engaged with.

“If you were using it repetitively over a period of time, it would be the measurement of your progress or your improvement and also identifying areas for improvement.”

Pullen also sees benefits for everyday golfers, who can also use Golf Challenge in the same progress-charting fashion but also as a replacement for full-scale, regular golf if time is short. “It’s another form of golf and golf skills that you can do in a shorter time period than the usual 18 holes. It’s another form of golf that is a little bit quicker than traditional golf.”

Short is Sweet: The Golf Challenge Premier’s Cup

When would be the best time to test Golf Challenge’s speed-and-convenience factor? On the winter solstice, of course!

The shortest day of the year saw the staging of the Premier’s Cup Golf Charity Tournament in Sydney. It was a two-day event of firsts, with Castle Hill Country Club hosting the annual event for the first time and the 80-player field using the Golf Challenge app for the first time.

The app proved to be a solid strategic fit for the tournament, which is about fun, community and bringing people together. The WPGA players, corporates who participated and the course staff at Castle Hill Country Club all loved the event. Using Golf Challenge worked from a playing point of view, from a team point of view and all participants – professional and amateur – had fun.

Kelsey Bennett, who is part of the Golf NSW High Performance team, was in the winning Premier’s Cup Golf Charity Challenge Trophy team with this scorecard, playing her wildcard for double points on the Course Challenge. Afterwards, Kelsey reviewed her game. Interestingly her Putting and Course Challenge scored the lowest for the day.

The tournament at Castle Hill Country Club raised $52,000 and together with Golf NSW and Superheroes Events Ltd, the Golf Challenge Premier’s Cup Golf Charity Tournament has set a goal to raise $1 million within three years for NSW community charities.

Have fun and win with the Golf Challenge and Australian Golf Digest!

Enter this great competition simply by downloading the app and entering your best score to win some of these great prizes. There are 15 to be won!