HSBC announced as new Patron of the Open Championship

On 15th October 2010 HSBC was named as a Patron of The Open Championship for the next five years.

The partnership means that HSBC will become the ’Official Banking Partner’ of The Open Championship, which next year will return to Royal St George’s (14-17 July, 2011), Sandwich, Kent.

The R&A’s Chief Executive, Peter Dawson said: “We are very pleased to welcome HSBC. The Open is golf’s oldest major championship and its most international. For many years, The R&A has looked to establish relationships that help golf’s growth globally. As The R&A seeks to engage in and support activities to grow the game, a partnership with ’the world’s local bank’ is a natural progression.”

Over the last five years, HSBC has been at the forefront of the expansion of the game in Asia with the creation of the HSBC Champions in China, which it has helped develop from inception in 2005 to become Asia’s first World Golf Championship tournament. It has also created a comprehensive programme of grassroots activity across China designed to increase both interest and participation in the game.

Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship at HSBC commented: “The Open Championship is, without a doubt, one of the world’s most important golf tournaments and HSBC is very honoured to become a Patron. Golf sponsorship continues to be an important investment tool for us to grow and sustain our business and brand. This new partnership is an exciting opportunity to take our current activity with professional and grassroots golf in both established and emerging markets to a new level.”

2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen said: “Winning The Open, particularly at St Andrews, is the pinnacle of any golfer’s career. I could not have got there without the great support I’ve received from within the game and I hope this announcement will lead to further opportunities for The R&A to do even more to help the game to grow around the world.”

The R&A is the governing body of world golf outside the US, with affiliated national governing bodies in 126 countries around the world. In 2010, 200,000 spectators attended The Open Championship and over 3,000 hours of television coverage were broadcast to 193 countries worldwide. There were over three million unique visitors to The Open’s official website (www.opengolf.com) during this year’s Championship, with 300,000 hours of streamed coverage via the internet.

Playing a role in helping to develop and grow the game globally is typical of the way HSBC does business, particularly in emerging markets. Helping The R&A realise its full potential is consistent with the way HSBC works with all of its partners and customers.

The R&A
Based in St Andrews, The R&A is golf’s governing body and organiser of The Open Championship. The R&A is committed to working for golf and operates with the consent of 141 organisations from the amateur and professional game and on behalf of over thirty million golfers in 126 countries. Formed in 2004, The R&A seeks to engage in and support activities that are undertaken for the benefit of the game of golf. It takes its name from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the members’ club that, before 2004, had responsibility for the game but from which The R&A is now separate and distinct. Each year, The R&A provides financial support to deserving causes from grassroots initiatives, through coaching and regional championships, to professional tours all over the world.

HSBC
HSBC provides a comprehensive range of financial services to around 100 million customers through our four customer groups and global businesses: Personal Financial Services (including consumer finance); Commercial Banking; Global Banking and Markets; and Private Banking.

HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 8,000 offices in 87 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Latin America and the Middle East. With assets of US$2,418 billion at 30 June 2010, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as ’the world’s local bank’.

HSBC Golf Sponsorships
A long-time sponsor of top-class professional tournament golf, in recent years HSBC has created two world-class tournaments in Asia and at the same time built on their success by creating a legacy for those events through the development of several grassroots programmes. The Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship is the latest addition to an HSBC Champions brand that has become synonymous with world-class golf through the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.

The HSBC Champions is Asia’s first World Golf Championships event and the region’s leading men’s tournament. Last year world number one Tiger Woods described it as “The crowning jewel of all of Asian golf.” Since its inception in 2005 the event has attracted world-class fields. The last two winners, in the form of Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, have highlighted its world-class stature. Three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington revealed that he believed creating the HSBC Champions was “a turning point for Asian golf”. These two tournaments have played a significant role in changing the map of the golfing world. Along with the quality and world-class stature of the HSBC Champions tournaments, HSBC, as the world’s local bank, places an equal importance on creating a legacy through grassroots development.

For more details on HSBC’s golf activities, visit www.hsbcgolf.com