The third annual Puma Open wrapped up its unconventional golf tour in Miami on Friday on the Blue Monster course at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa. Coordinated for Puma by Connecticut-based sports marketing agency Octagon, the tour takes a lighthearted approach to the traditional sport—one hole required players to use a sports drink bottle as their tee. After six sold-out stops in 2008—including the one in Hallandale Beach at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa's Country Club—Puma expanded the event to 11 cities this year in an attempt to reach more people and further solidify the brand's place in the golf world.
The tour began in Scottsdale, Arizona, on May 15 and stopped in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and Las Vegas before heading to Miami, where 36 teams of four players—who paid $300 per team for the privilege—participated in the nine-hole golf scramble. Each hole had specific directions: The Lucky 7 hole required all players to use only their seven iron, and the On the Clock hole awarded sponsor and Puma products, along with a better score, to the team who finished it in the shortest time.
Teams lined up in golf carts at 3:30 for the shotgun start. During the next three hours, participants made their way through the course before convening in the Champions Pavilion for the annual dinner and casino party. The hotel set up food stations with salad, beef and chicken tacos and fajitas, and jalapeño cornbread. Vancouver, Canada-based DJ Sage played throughout the evening.
Puma representatives awarded prizes to winners in eight categories such as Best Dressed, Best Foursome Pose at the Photo Op hole, Best Gambling, and Best and Worst Golf Score—the latter of whom received a $50 gift voucher for golf lessons at Doral’s Jim McLean Golf School. Prizes included golf gear and attire from Puma and event sponsors Almost Golf and Function Energy Drinks.
Cobra Golf and RCA also sponsored the tour.
