After Nicolai Højgaard took a two-shot victory on the final day of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, we ended another Tour season full of world-class chips, pitches, and putts from the best golfers in the men’s game. As part of a press trip, Logistics Middle East witnessed the thrilling culmination of the tournament to see what it was all about.
We discovered that beyond the fairways and greens, the European Tour’s title sponsor, DP World, has been on its mission to support golf at the grassroots level and inspire more people to play and fall in love with the sport. As the global leader in smart end-to-end supply chain logistics, it’s no surprise that DP World’s work has involved a complex logistical operation!
The key initiative of DP World’s mission to make golf accessible to a broader audience is what they call their ‘Second Life Container’, which launched in 2022. This specially created 20-foot shipping container has been on a journey around the world with the DP World Tour, covering thousands of kilometres across land and sea, to collect golf balls from some of the most significant events in the sport. DP World is then giving these balls a second life. At the DP World Tour Championship this year, a milestone was reached with the 250,000th golf ball donated. Each of the balls will be donated to grassroots golf groups worldwide – to inspire more people to get out and play regardless of their background, location or skill level.
DP World’s operations account for 10% of global trade. So, the Second Life Container journey is naturally powered by DP World’s end-to-end supply chain, multi-modal capabilities, and expansive global network.
In the 2023 season alone, the container has been transported with DP World’s trademark reliability and efficiency by land and sea from the Korea Championship via the Port of Busan – home to the world’s first BOXBAY – DP World’s revolutionary high-bay storage system: to the BMW International Open in Munich via Rotterdam World Gateway, a highly autonomous port, and the Ryder Cup in Rome via the Port of Naples. Its final stop of the year was the DP World Tour Championship via the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai.
The Second Life Container initiative has already made an impact on young golfers. Kanana Muthomi, aged 11, is part of the Junior Golf Foundation in Kenya who received a donation. He said: “These golf balls are transforming my game, and they are allowing more of my community to come and play!”
Commenting on DP World’s involvement in the game, Daniel van Otterdijk, Chief Communications Officer at DP World, said, “We take immense pride in delivering our mission for golf – which is all about using our leading logistics capabilities and global network to help make the game of golf possible for more people. Powered by our multi-modal capabilities and ports and terminals services – the Second-Life Container has travelled across the world with the DP World Tour over the past two seasons- collecting over 250,000 balls, which are now being donated to grassroots golf groups to inspire more young people to play the game.”
DP World has a growing network of sports partnerships across golf, cricket, and McLaren Racing in Formula 1 – with the overarching aim to make sport possible. Additionally, DP World has been working to inspire racing lovers this past week through its partnership with the McLaren Formula One Team ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. As part of their end-to-end innovative solutions, they delivered McLaren via Dubai using BoxBay technology, an intelligent and efficient High Bay Storage system in Jebel Ali.
With its partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC), DP World is focused on making cricket more accessible. As part of this, ahead of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023, DP World committed to donating 50 repurposed shipping containers kitted out with cricket equipment to grassroots clubs worldwide. Titled ‘Beyond Boundaries’ – the initiative was launched with cricket superstar and DP World global ambassador Sachin Tendulkar.