Sergio Garcia shows of form at Manhattan "White Out." Photo: Matthew Peyton
After a winter of record snowfalls in New York City, TaylorMade Golf and Golfsmith recently teamed up to restore white’s good name and give “right down Broadway” a new twist. They built a 45-foot-tall by 120-foot-long, custom-designed driving range outside Golfsmith’s huge midtown retail facility (OK, technically on 54th Street, not Broadway).
With temperatures in the 20s and 30s, it was hardly like the first day of spring, but in this case the falling “snow” was manmade, part of the leitmotif surrounding TaylorMade’s introduction of their new, white-colored drivers, the r11 and the Burner 2.0.
This being New York, celebrity sightings were part of the fun, with appearances and product demonstrations by global golf stars cum TaylorMade ambassadors Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia. Hey, even Donald Trump stopped by to enliven the festivities.
The event also served a worthy charitable purpose, as proceeds generated went to Operation Game On!, a golf-centric rehabilitation program for injured veterans returning home. Contributions to the program were generated by golfers, pro and otherwise, hitting targets at the end of the driving range.
Chill winds notwithstanding, the atmosphere was festive – and testament to New Yorkers’ eagerness for the real golf season to start – as hundreds showed up for the “White Out.” Most hit balls into the net on 54th Street, but there were also driving bay’s inside the expansive Golfsmith store, with long-drive contests and drawings conducted throughout the day, and free caps given to participants.
Even non-golfing urbanites seemed intrigued by the ingenuity involved in staging the event. A time-lapse sequence showing construction of the net is available at https://tmaggolfsmith.box.net/shared/o2mdvg6xls.
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