VEDBÆK, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following a successful inaugural season last winter, Trackman has announced the return of the world’s leading professional indoor golf tour: The NEXT Golf Tour Powered by Trackman. Season 2 begins November 24.
NEXT Golf Tour is a new professional golf tour for men and women played on Trackman simulators. A total of 994 golfers from 41 countries took part in Season 1, competing for a total purse of $876,100. The leading money-winner took home $69,561, eight players earned more than $20,000, and 45 picked up at least $5,000.
“With the success of the NEXT Golf Tour in Season 1, Trackman proved that competing on indoor simulators can be an instrumental tool in helping professional golfers achieve their goals,” said Klaus Eldrup-Jørgensen, Trackman co-founder and CEO.
European Tour group partnership
Providing grinders with career-changing opportunities is a big reason why NEXT exists. This year, Trackman and the European Tour group reached an agreement to invite the top male performer of Season 2 to play in three Challenge Tour events and one DP World Tour event in 2024.
Ben Cowen, Chief Tournament Business Officer at the European Tour group, underscored the NEXT Golf Tour’s importance in helping the European Tour group realize its vision of making the game more accessible, developing future stars and attracting new audiences to the game.
“Thanks to the technological innovation of Trackman, virtual golf is now incredibly sophisticated and realistic,” said Cowen. “It is also a tool regularly used by Challenge Tour and DP World Tour players to hone their skills and equipment when they are away from the course. We look forward to seeing NEXT’s top male player teeing it up in 2024.”
The NEXT Golf Tour is pursuing similar opportunities for female players that it plans to reveal during the season.
Virtual golf. Real opportunity.
Season 2 of the NEXT Golf Tour consists of seven mixed-field, individual stroke play events on select Trackman virtual golf courses. Rounds 1–6 are 18 holes, followed by a 36-hole Season Finale, and can be played in any Trackman simulator worldwide that is running the latest version of Trackman Performance Studio.
Round 1 will see players tee off at the iconic Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Nov. 24–Dec. 3), before moving on to Medinah Country Club (Dec. 8–17) for Round 2 and the Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course (Jan 5–14) for Round 3.
Courses for Rounds 4–7 will be revealed soon.
The entry fee remains at $130 (including 25 percent Danish VAT and a small handling fee) per tournament. $100 of each entry fee is added to the purse, so the more players in the field, the greater the payouts. The top 30 percent of the field earns a paycheck.
Popular in-round "side games" — with payouts of up to $4,000 for aggregate closest-to-pin, longest drive (men and women), longest birdie-or-better streak and more — will continue to offer significant earning potential.
Once again, men and women will compete straight-up from different tee boxes, and all players with a handicap of 3.4 or better are encouraged to join.
The top 100 players (plus ties) on the Order of Merit through the first six events will qualify for the Season Finale. They will compete for a $100,000 purse, with a $50,000 bonus pool distributed to the top 10 finishers on the final Order of Merit. The 2024 NEXT Golf Tour champion will also receive the coveted Trackman Trophy.
What’s new for Season 2
More events. More action. More money. After posting an off-the-charts Net Promoter Score of 91 for Season 1, Trackman made several changes to further enhance the NEXT Golf Tour experience heading into the new season:
- Expanded fields — Each of the first six events is open to 1,000 players. The purse in a standard full-field event will climb to $200,000.
- Elevated events — Rounds 3 and 6 have been designated as elevated events, with $50,000 added to the purse.
- Larger winners’ checks — First place in Rounds 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 is now fixed at $30,000. In elevated events (Rounds 3 and 6), the champion will take home $50,000.
- Manual putting — Beginning with Round 3, players will putt when they are on the green and outside gimme range (2.4 m/8 ft). Putting will remain automatic for Rounds 1–2.
- NEXT Recorder app — Players will now use the NEXT Recorder app to record their rounds. Video recordings are automatically uploaded to Trackman after each hole.
- Live leaderboards — Fans will be able to follow players’ rounds in near-real time, with a split-screen view of every shot on every hole.
“Last year we accomplished something special together,” said Eldrup-Jørgensen. “Now the time has come for us all to capitalize on our success and tee it off to the next level. Our aim is to build the biggest professional tour in the world — measured by the number of players competing in the same tournament.
“The sky is the limit for players, facility owners and Trackman. Together we can power NEXT to chase down our dreams. Now, let’s have some fun!”
To learn more about the NEXT Golf Tour, including rules and entry details, visit NEXTGolfTour.com. Questions? Please contact Bernd Larsen Linde, Trackman VP of Marketing, at bll@trackman.com.
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ASSETS: https://www.trackman.media/next-golf-tour
Season 1 highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z06NtysHtKI&feature=youtu.be
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PLAYER TESTIMONIALS
Rasmus Rosin
Home: Sweden
Plays on: Nordic Golf Tour
NEXT Season 1 earnings: $69,561
Despite finishing the season without a tournament victory, Rosin was the runaway winner of the Season 1 Order of Merit. He also earned an invitation to play in the 2023 BMW International Open.
“I got the opportunity — thanks to the NEXT Golf Tour — to play a DP World Tour event this year. I’ve always dreamed about it, and it was amazing just to be there and see how all the pros train on the range and the putting green.”
“That’s something I will always take with me as a confidence booster going into tournaments in the Nordic League. I know that I can play good golf.”
Sofie Kibsgaard
Home: Denmark
Plays on: Ladies European Tour
NEXT Season 1 earnings: $23,033
Kibsgaard made history in Round 3 by becoming the first female to win on the NEXT. She carried that momentum into her rookie season on the LET Access Series, where she won three events and earned promotion to the Ladies European Tour ahead of the 2024 season.
“It’s fun to play against the men, to see the leaderboard and know you can play among them. And then especially to win it was very, very big for me.”
“This definitely ranks high as one of the biggest moments of my professional career. It’s been so fun.”
Nikke Tyry
Home: Finland
Plays on: Nordic Golf Tour
NEXT Season 1 earnings: $24,418
On the heels of winning Round 4 in Season 1, Tyry went on to enjoy a sterling outdoor season — culminating with his first Finnish Tour title at the Telia Samsung Open.
“The NEXT Golf Tour is great value for money if you play golf because you don’t have any travel expenses and you play for big money. So, it was a no-brainer for me.”
“I won Round 4, I started believing in myself and then I played the season of my life outdoors. So I’m very thankful for the NEXT Golf Tour because it’s something we really needed.”
Leslie Cloots
Home: Belgium
Plays on: Epson Tour
NEXT Season 1 earnings: $815
Cloots, who works as a coach when she’s not pursuing her own pro golf dreams, hopes to see more women join Season 2 of the NEXT Golf Tour.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to continue playing during the offseason.”
“It keeps you sharp and your routine and competitive juices flowing. It’s a different setting, but I think it’s great. During first couple weeks back outside, I could definitely tell that my swing was in a good spot.”
ABOUT TRACKMAN
Proudly based in Vedbæk, Denmark, Trackman is the world’s leading developer of radar tracking technology for use in golf performance analysis. The iconic Trackman 4 launch monitor — aka “the little orange box” — is trusted by elite players, coaches, equipment manufacturers and club fitters to provide ultra-precise data on virtually every aspect of club motion and ball flight. Trackman Range and indoor golf simulator solutions bring our tour-proven technology to the masses, featuring the best practice, virtual golf and entertainment software in the industry. Trackman is also the official provider of club and ball tracking and tracing data to the PGA Tour for broadcast on TV and digital platforms. Learn more at Trackman.com.
