Team USA has won the six-week-long GameBook Cup 2012, which was the Largest Golf Contest Ever held. In the spirit of the classic Ryder Cup, GameBook Cup 2012 was played between U.S. and European teams and was open for all U.S. & EU golfers. The final standings were 6.5 – 3.5 for Team USA & their skipper, British Open winner Stewart Cink. Three-time European Tour winner, Sweden’s Johan Edfors, was skipper of Team Europe. Overall there more than 120,000 rounds of golf were in total, or more than 2.5 million holes, during the six-week event.
The GameBook Cup 2012 was the Largest Golf Contest Ever, as any European and American Golfer was able to participate in the Cup simply by entering their scores to GameBook’s mobile application in real-time during the round or by storing them afterwards to the GameBook Clubhouse website. The only condition, on top of the player’s U.S. or European nationality, was that the round played was a full 18-hole round.
After the first five weeks USA led with a tiny margin 3-2. On the Final Week all the previous categories were played together at the same time so there was still five points on the line. U.S. golfers proved their high level by winning three of those five categories and losing only one category. One category ended up tied.
Growing interest during the Cup
The competition categories of the Gamebook Cup 2012 varied on a weekly basis. During the first week, it was all about the number of birdies, on the second week the contest was about who had a better par-3 hole average. The third challenge was about which continent scored fewer triple bogeys (or worse), and during the fourth week on who had shot more rounds under a net score of 80. The fifth week of the competition was about which team had the better putting average and on the final week, all five winning categories were played, each giving an important point to the winner.
During these six weeks, more than 120,000 rounds of golf were played, or more than 2.5 million holes. More than 130,000 birdies were made and players used their putters almost 5 million times overall. Men represented 91 per cent of players and women represented 9 per cent women of those registered players, according to those who registered to GameBook.
The father of the Gamebook Cup 2012, GameBook’s co-founder Kalle Vainola, was very satisfied after the conclusion of the six-week Cup. Last year, Gamebook organized a similr kind of tournament between Finland and Sweden after the Ice Hockey World Championship, but that was played during a single weekend. This time, the Cup was “bigger, stronger and even better,” said Vainola.
“Ryder Cup is a huge spectacle in golf, every second year, which will is closely monitored both in Europe and on U.S. soil. The atmosphere in the Ryder Cup is almost unfathomable. We wanted that typical golfer to feel the same atmosphere while playing in the Gamebook Cup 2012, and I think we achieved that very well. For example, when I played my round on the first day of the GameBook Cup and manage to make birdie, it felt special. Like that birdie really meant something bigger, it was worthy of something special”, said Vainola.
“The feedback on the Cup has been encouraging and I can promise already there’s definitely more to come! We will start to plan the next challenge right away and will not forget that there already are different challenges running all the time with great prizes. I was glad when I noticed how well golfers around the world participated in the tournament like this and how good they took this kind unique idea of global golf tournament over the borders. The best possible feedback was when golfers said the typical Sunday round felt much more special because the GameBook Cup was on,” said a pleased Vainola.
GameBook Cup 2012 was played during the period July 30th – September 9th. The Final results are announced via GameBook Cup’s official website http://www.golfgamebook.com/cup, as well as via the company’s blog http://blog.golfgamebook.com/cup/
Golf GameBook Cup 2012 – Results
USA
1 Continent with most birdies 1,08 1,02 US
2 Continent with better par 3 average 4,04 3,98 EU
3 Continent with fewer triple bogeys 2,97 3,12 US
4 Continent with more rounds under net score 80 59 % 57 % US
5 Continent with better putting average 1,9 1,87 EU
6 Continent with most birdies 1,06 1,03 US
6 Continent with better par 3 average 3,99 3,98 EU
6 Continent with fewer triple bogeys 2,95 3,02 US
6 Continent with more rounds under net score 80 58 % 58 % Tied
6 Continent with better putting average 1,88 1,89 US
Final score 6,5 3,5
Golf GameBook Cup 2012 – In Numbers
• More than 120,000 played rounds totally
• More than 2.5 million played holes
• More than 130 000 birdies totally
• 91% men, 9% women
• 23 different nationalities
• Almost 5 million putts
About Golf GameBook
Golf GameBook has provided live scoring and leaderboards at hundreds of events in Europe and the US, including the 2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship Pro-Am. Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus have hosted their own events with Golf GameBook Live Scoring; Arnold Palmer’s Kingdom Cup (2011 and 2012), and Jack Nicklaus International Invitational (2011). The Stanford Men’s Golf team used Golf GameBook for live scoring at its recent Amer Ali Invitational event in January.
GameBook on the course experience: Easy scorecard with the most popular game formats. Service supports friendly wagers & contests; Live leaderboards & chat between all teams & friends anywhere. Players can share games on Facebook too. GameBook off the course experience: Live leaderboards & chat with friends who are playing, get notified when your friends play*. Golfers can invite friends and keep scores, stats, photos & chat history all in one easy place in your profile. Golfers can also track & compare performance.
The Golf GameBook iPhone and Android app, as well as the web Clubhouse at www.golfgamebook.com, are free. GameBook® is a registered trademark of GameBook Oy, Finland.
Contact:
Kalle Vainola, PGA Member, CEO, Founder, GameBook, Tel. +358 400 955 955, kalle@golfgamebook.com
Mikko Rantanen, PGA Member, CEO, GameBook Inc (USA), Tel. USA (561) 306 1777, Finland +358 500 656565, mikko.rantanen@golfgamebook.com
Follow GameBook on: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
