CARLSBAD, Calif., March 4, 2020 – Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY), an industry leader in distance- enhancing technologies in golf clubs and balls, today announced the inaugural Callaway Golf Next-Gen 2020 Challenge, scheduled for Saturday, March 21st at Rolling Hills Country Club in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.
Callaway developed the concept and will produce the live stream broadcast for this one-of-a-kind competition, which pits the defending NCAA champion Stanford Cardinal against the Illinois Fighting Illini in a unique format. Both teams will bring seven players. Five head-to-head matches will be played, and the remaining two players on each team will be available to come off the bench in certain situations to hit a shot for a teammate.
An additional wrinkle is the Coach’s Challenge: Each coach – Stanford’s Conrad Ray and Illinois’ Mike Small – can at any point during a match toss out a challenge flag, thereby challenging the opposing coach to step in and hit the shot his player is about to play.
All five matches will be live-streamed on callawaygolf.com and amateurgolf.com; the opening match will also be livestreamed by golfweek.com. Each match will be captured by a single walking camera. Both coaches will accompany the opening match, and all players and coaches will be mic’ed throughout the stream.
“We’re big supporters of college golf, and this is an opportunity to try something new with two of the best collegiate teams in the nation,” said Jeff Neubarth, Callaway Director of Content & Production. “That’s why we created this challenge to give fans complete inside-the-ropes access from start to finish, and to do it in a way that is authentic, engaging, and fun for the fans who live stream it.”
Established in 1965, Rolling Hills Country Club features a championship golf course designed by world-renowned golf course architect David McClay Kidd, best known for designing Bandon Dunes, the first course opened at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort; and a 70,000 sq. ft. clubhouse designed by celebrated clubhouse architect Robert Altevers. Rolling Hills hosted the 2018 Men’s PAC-12 Men’s Golf Championships.
For more information and to follow both participating schools, please visit their official websites at GoStanford.com and FightingIllini.com. You can follow Stanford Men’s Golf on Twitter and Instagram at @StanfordMGolf, and follow Illinois Men’s Golf at @IlliniMGolf.
