Never Mind the Rugby, We’re Good at Virtual Golf

Media Release
20 November 2003

Never Mind the Rugby, We’re Good at Virtual Golf

Top Video Golfer Places Fourth in World Championships

While New Zealand’s All Blacks may have fallen short of their hot-favourite billing, our top virtual golfer has returned from the World Championship with an improved ranking and a healthy cash payout.

Martin Awatere, of Petone, has played his way to fourth in the Golden Tee 4 World Championships, held in Florida this week. He beat virtual (video) golfers from Britain, Ireland, and Australia as well as the New Zealand No. 2, Mike Norman of Auckland, before being knocked out of the tournament by the Canadian No.1 in his fifth 18-hole round of the championship.

Awatere wins around $4500 of the $135,000 prize pool, with his trip already paid for by Coin Cascade Ltd, the New Zealand distributors of Golden Tee.

The World Championships of virtual golfing were covered as a major sporting event by the Fox Television Network and screened through the United States.

Matt Fitzsimmons, Brand Development Manager for Coin Cascade, says it may not exactly make up for the disappointment of the Rugby World Cup, but the results show that New Zealand can punch above its weight in one of the newer sporting codes.

About Golden Tee

Golden Tee is an internet-based, coin-operated golf game installed in 115 hotels, clubs and bars throughout New Zealand. Consistently ranked as the world’s most popular coin-operated game, Golden Tee has made big in-roads in the New Zealand sport/entertainment industry since its introduction by game specialists Coin Cascade Ltd two years ago.

In regular tournament play, scorecards for each round are transmitted via the Internet to the tournament organisers in Chicago for processing. The results and calculations provide each Golden Tee machine with an updated leader board and tournament statistics.

In the United States, Golden Tee is available at over 7000 locations.

Ends

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