Two Up Front to the fore in “best-ever” Hong Kong Open

Hong Kong
December 23, 2008

Sports PR and publishing experts Two Up Front played a key role as the 50th edition of the UBS Hong Kong Open turned out to be the best yet.

The tournament, staged at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling from November 20-23, enjoyed record crowds and an unforgettable finish.

Two Up Front once again handled PR and media management and produced all the tournament publications, including the souvenir programme.

The company’s innovative PR campaign helped generate widespread media and public interest in the showpiece.

Almost 200 members of the media attended the tournament while fans flocked to the event in record numbers – total attendance topped 35,000, about 15 per cent more than in 2007.

Two Up Front published a lavish 124-page souvenir programme that included a comprehensive review of all 49 previous editions of the tournament, complete with archive photographs.

“Given that this was the 50th edition of the Hong Kong Open, we wanted to produce a souvenir programme that captured the landmark nature of the event,” explained Two Up Front project director Simon Wait.

“So we increased the number of pages by 50 per cent and devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to researching the tournament’s rich heritage of great players and memorable moments.

“Media and fans alike were extremely complimentary about the programme and we like to think it will serve as a reference point for anyone wishing to know more about the history of the event.”

Two Up Front also provided daily scoresheets for fans as well as a newsletter on the final two days of the event.

Appropriately, the 2008 tournament enjoyed the greatest finish in its distinguished history with Taiwan’s Lin Wen Tang winning an enthralling three-way playoff to lift the trophy.

Two Up Front also handles PR for another high profile European and Asian Tour golf tournament, the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea. In addition, the company’s PR portfolio includes three other major sporting events in Hong Kong: the GFI HKFC Tens rugby festival, the HKFC International Soccer Sevens and the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes.

Two Up Front also produces the acclaimed souvenir programme and pocket guide for the world famous Hong Kong Sevens rugby showpiece.

ENDS