Bridgestone takes two to Firestone

Two amateur golfers will be travelling to the Firestone Country Club in Ohio, after winning a Bridgestone golf competition at The Belfry. Ray Pipe and Ger Breen have won the Bridgestone Amateur Golf Championship paving the way to a trip to the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, where they will actually play a round before the competition begins on 6 August.

The Darlington and Dublin men won a qualifying event to earn a place at the final of the Bridgestone Amateur Golf event at the Belfry and both went on to win it outright with stableford scores of 34. Ray said he was, “absolutely over the moon” to triumph and be given a money-can’t-buy prize of a visit to a tournament won by Rory McIlroy in 2014.

He said, “Playing at the Belfry was a magical experience in itself, but to go on and win the event and such a phenomenal prize like a trip to America is a dream come true. I actually three putted the 15th, 16th and 17th and thought my chance might have gone, but I thought of what I always tell my grandchildren, which is – never give up!”

Ger commented, “The conditions were challenging and the course was long, so while I thought I had half a chance of winning with my score, you just never know in golf. The event was brilliantly organised and I can’t thank everyone at Bridgestone enough for the way they looked after us and made us all feel.

Bridgestone’s consumer sales and marketing director Farrell Dolan said, “Bridgestone is already strongly associated with golfing products but as the world’s largest tyre manufacturer, we really wanted to connect with a wider audience. We couldn’t be more delighted for Ray and Ger. They were great company over the weekend and were fitting winners. We hope he has a wonderful time in Ohio in August.”

During the Belfry final, Bridgestone offered golfers the chance to be fitted for the golf ball most suited to their game. The Bridgestone Ball Fitting Challenge – which last year fitted a record 3,600 golfers in the UK & Ireland and recorded an average distance increase of 10.1 yards per player fitted – analyses swing speed, launch angle and spin rates to determine the ball that delivers the most distance and accuracy for each golfer.

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A graduate of Cardiff University’s highly respected post-graduate magazine journalism course, Andy has successfully edited four different publications across the B2B, trade and consumer sectors. He is skilled at all aspects of the magazine process in addition to editing websites and managing social media channels.