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Yes, there is a life after life for used golf balls

DP World initiative has collected over 280,000 balls and re-homed them to support grassroots academies around the world

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Rory McIlroy demonstrates his putting skills to amateur golfers at the Emirates Golf Club. - KT photo by Shihab

By Leslie Wilson Jr.

Published: Wed 17 Jan 2024, 10:14 PM

Hundreds and hundreds of golf balls are either lost or discarded each day.

But like shuttlecocks and cricket balls past their sell-by date, there is life-after-life for the little white ball that has a specified velocity and can be hit to over 300 yards.

Golf balls are expensive but they are also expendable.

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However, thanks to a wonderful initiative by DP World a total of 280,000 golf balls have been collected over the past two years and have been given a new life at golf academies, schools and smaller clubs around the world

The Dubai-based global supply chain company is raising its efforts to grow grassroots golf around the world and improve the sustainability of golf balls through a unique, heart-warming scheme.

Instead of ending up in landfills, rough grass or being stowed away in cupboards at home, these unwanted golf balls are systematically collected during the season to be repurposed and redistributed to support grassroots golf projects. Through this initiative, more people now have access to the sport that may have been out of their reach.

Over the past two seasons, 280,000 golf balls have been collected in numerous ways by the DP World Second Life container which travels around the world.

Donations were made from DP World Tour players, fans, and governing bodies or rescued by professional golf ball divers, ball-collecting dogs, and children’s golf ball hunts.

Tiger Woods catches a golf ball on the course. - AFP File

So far, DP World has shipped balls around the world to places like the Junior Golf Foundation in Kenya, the South African Disabled Golf Association and the Golf Foundation in India.

As the initiative made its first appearance on the DP World Tour this season at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Dubai Golf donated 18,000 golf balls to the collection, helping to boost DP World’s to 280,000 collected golf balls.

Over 8,000 balls were donated by Emirates Golf Club,7,000 range balls from Dubai Golf Creek & Yacht Club and 3,000 from Jumeirah Golf Estates.

“We are delighted to contribute to this great grassroots cause and donate 18,000 balls to DP World’s Golf Ball Container,” said Chris May, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Golf. “It’s a fantastic initiative, heading into its third year, we hope DP World can keep growing the game within the UAE and around the world.

Daniel van Otterdijk, Group Chief Communications Officer at DP World, echoed May’s sentiments saying: “We’re really pleased with the impact this initiative has had over the past two years, using our smart logistics solutions to help continue growing the game around the world.

“Thank you to our friends at Dubai Golf for their generous ball donation, kicking off the third year of our golf ball container. We’re hoping for another successful year on the DP World Tour.”

The DP World Second Life container will begin its 2024 global journey after the Hero Dubai Desert Classic ends and head west from Jebel Ali Port in Dubai.

Last year the container carrying precious golf balls travelled over 20,000 km whilst visiting seven DP World tour events including the Korea Championship via the Port of Busan, the BMW International Open in Munich via Rotterdam World Gateway and The Ryder Cup in Rome via the Port of Naples.

leslie@khaleejtimes.com

Leslie Wilson Jr.

Published: Wed 17 Jan 2024, 10:14 PM

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