Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Group chief executive officer of CIMB Group (far left) and Effendy (far right) presenting the grand prize to the champion team.
WITH a view to engaging with their top-tier customers across the country and compete in a golf tournament that culminated in a grand finale, CIMB Bank hosted its CIMB Preferred Golf Series 2023.
This new addition to the golf scene was launched in September and had the grand final played at the award-winning Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
In all, the series featured more than 400 participants nationwide, with the qualifying rounds held at the Mines Resort and Golf Club in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club in Nusa Jaya, Johor, Palm Garden Golf Club in Putrajaya, Selangor and the Penang Golf Club in Bukit Jambul, Penang.
The format was the popular Texas Scramble System 36, with each team choosing their best drive from which to hit their next shot and continuing this until the ball was holed. There were also the on-course contests of Nearest-to-Pin, Longest Drive and Nearest-to-Line.
Designed for both men and women, the qualifying rounds had main prizes of Rimowa luggage bags and Braun Buffel bags.
The final had a grand prize of a five-day/four-night Tochigi-Tokyo-Ibaraki Golf Escape with roundtrip business class air travel from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo with four rounds of 18-hole golf.
The second prize was a 15-inch Macbook Air and the third prize a Bowers and Wilkins Panorama 3 soundbar, while the hole-in-ones were a Panerai Luminor Regatta Chrono flyback and a Land Rover Range Rover Velar.
In an interview with TeeUp, CIMB Group chief executive officer, Group Consumer and Digital Banking, Effendy Shahul Hamid, shared his thoughts on the event and what it meant to the bank.
Following are excerpts of the interview conducted:
Q: What inspired the creation of the CIMB Preferred Golf Series 2023?A: CIMB has a rich history with golf. It is a platform we are familiar with and have had success activating well over the years. And it continues to be a great avenue for relationship-building and entertainment and remains deeply appreciated by our clients.
We felt it was the right time to get back into golf in some way, but with a much more personal tone – a different and specific curated asset to deliver a high level of experience to our clients.
And so, with our experience and having understood what golf means to our clients, we decided to create the CIMB Preferred Golf Series – a by-invitation-only event which we aspire to be a fixture on the calendar for our select group of CIMB Preferred customers.
Q: How does this series stand out and differ from other tournaments?A: We’d like to think of it as more than just a golf tournament.
As I had alluded to previously, the CIMB Preferred Golf Series was crafted in view of delivering a unique and personal experience that reflects the Preferred brand proposition.
It’s not uncommon to host golf events, but to truly understand the entire golfers’ journey, and to appreciate the finer details of what differentiates a good versus a great experience, we believe gives this event its unique spin. There’s no single magic bullet but knowing the elements that bring the package together and being able to execute consistently from start to finish is what we believe sets us apart.
Q: Is there any chance that this Series, given its popularity, could become an annual event?A: Judging from the success of this year’s event and having taken feedback from our clients, we have decided to do another event in 2024. So yes, it’s becoming an annual event.
Q: It seems like CIMB is making a return to the golf arena. Is there any chance that we might see something even bigger and better from CIMB in golf soon?A: Well, it’s a sport that we have always watched very closely. We’re familiar with activating large scale golf events, dating back to the CIMB Classic. The tricky part is finding an event (of that scale and prestige) and finding a date that suits it. In the meantime, we want to focus on continuing to build a solid client franchise around golf, and the CIMB Preferred Golf Series being an example of that.
