SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WGT Media (www.wgtmedia.com) has launched the 2014 WGT Virtual Tour, a year-long golf season that’s played on the WGT (World Golf Tour) web and mobile golf games. The WGT Virtual Tour will be held on twelve different famous golf courses, including the upcoming additions of Bandon Dunes and Pebble Beach Golf Links®.
The WGT Virtual Tour will be the largest virtual sports season in the world. It launched this January with the IOA Open, sponsored by the Insurance Office of America, and played at Pebble Beach® on WGT with over 50,000 people already entered. Anyone can compete in the WGT Virtual Tour free online, earning WGT credit prizes each month that accumulate during the year, and qualifying top players to compete in the inaugural WGT Virtual Tour Championship held in December 2014 with additional prizes.
The WGT Virtual Tour will be covered on both Golf Channel and GolfChannel.com, similar to other real-world professional golf tours, including scoring, updates and player interviews, both online and on TV. Anyone who plays has a chance to get included in the leaderboards, highlights and interviews on the Golf Channel. In addition, the December Championship event will be held in Orlando near the Golf Channel studios with additional TV coverage. Players and sponsors can learn more and signup free at www.golfchannel.com/virtualtour.
To help support the WGT Virtual Tour, WGT is also expanding its available golf courses with the addition of two of the world’s greatest venues, including:
- Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is home to several of the top-rated golf courses in the world. Loyal Bandon fans voted via social media for their favorite 18 par three holes among their five courses, and that unique stroke play experience will launch on WGT as part of the Virtual Tour in Summer 2014.
- Pebble Beach Company and WGT have just strengthened their partnership with a new multi-year agreement, which will include a full 18-hole stroke play experience on Pebble Beach Golf Links®, expanding on the current closest-to-the-hole course that’s hosting the Virtual Tour this month.
These new golf courses join the 18 other famous courses already available on WGT and part of the 2014 WGT Virtual Tour, including: Bethpage Black, Congressional, Harbour Town, Kiawah Island, Merion, Oakmont, Olympic Club, Royal St. George’s, and St Andrews, the birthplace of golf.
About Bandon Dunes
Founded in 1999 by Chicago businessman and philanthropist Mike Keiser, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is home to four 18-hole courses and a 13-hole par-3 course. The foursome of Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails and Old Macdonald gives the resort the distinction of being the only property with four courses ranked in the top half of Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Courses in America. Bandon Preserve is one of the most highly-acclaimed par-3 courses in America, and 100% of its net proceeds benefit the Wild Rivers Coast Alliance, an organization that funds projects on the southern coast of Oregon that are committed to conservation, community and economy.
About Pebble Beach Company
Pebble Beach Company, headquartered in Pebble Beach, Calif., owns and operates the world-famous Pebble Beach Resorts, including The Lodge at Pebble Beach, The Inn at Spanish Bay and Casa Palmero. The company also operates four world-renowned golf courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, The Links at Spanish Bay and Del Monte Golf Course. Its other famed properties include the scenic 17-Mile Drive and The Spa at Pebble Beach, and it annually hosts premier events such as the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Callaway Pebble Beach Invitational, Pebble Beach Food & Wine and Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. Site of the 2019 U.S. Open, Pebble Beach Golf Links has hosted five U.S. Open Championships, four U.S. Amateurs, one PGA Championship, and numerous other tournaments.
About WGT Media
Based in San Francisco, WGT Media is home to the most engaged sports fans in the world, with over 13 million players spending more than 90 minutes online per visitor across online, social and mobile platforms. The flagship property, WGT Golf (www.wgt.com) is the #1 free golf game with over 400 million virtual rounds played. WGT Golf features 18 famous virtual golf courses that are recreated using HD photography and patented technology, including Merion, Pebble Beach® and St Andrews. WGT runs the annual Virtual U.S. Open in partnership with the USGA, and has partnered with NBC's Golf Channel and David Leadbetter. WGT offers a range of virtual golf equipment from leading manufacturers, including Callaway, Cleveland, Nike, Ping, Srixon and TaylorMade. In 2012, WGT launched WGT Baseball: MLB (www.wgtbaseball.com) in partnership with Major League Baseball Advanced Media. WGT Baseball is a realistic baseball game that puts fans inside their favorite MLB ballparks in HD virtual reality with MLB uniforms and players. In a unique blend of social gaming and fantasy baseball, players manage their rosters, making strategic in-game decisions and competing head-to-head against other players in rival games and mini seasons. More at www.wgtmedia.com.
