Trackman Launches NEXT Golf Tour Season 3

HØRSHOLM, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 7, 2024--

In today’s golf world, where exploding purses and made-for-TV spectacles benefit players who are already superstars, the NEXT Golf Tour offers a sharp contrast: This is a place for grinders chasing their pro golf dreams, competing on the same courses anyone can play at any Trackman-powered indoor golf center.

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Following an exciting sophomore season last winter, Trackman has announced the return of the NEXT Golf Tour for Season 3. Round 1 tees off on December 11, with sign-ups opening on Nov. 27 at NEXTGolfTour.com.

“NEXT is a tour for the many, not the few,” said Klaus Eldrup-Jørgensen, Trackman co-founder and CEO. “The world’s best players will always have a place to compete, and compete for a lot of money. Our goal has always been to help up-and-coming players earn the money they need to keep chasing that dream. We are thrilled that players are using the NEXT platform to go on to bigger and better things.”

Virtual golf. Real money.

Last season, NEXT paid out more than $1.2 million, with 11 players earning at least $20K — led by Jordan Weber, who earned $90,319 and invitations to four tour events in Europe this past summer.

“The NEXT Golf Tour changed my life,” Weber said. “It not only revitalized my professional golf career, but also provided me the best opportunity I’ve ever had to compete at a high level. I can’t wait for Season 3 to get started.”

The purse for Rounds 1–3 starts at $100,000. With a full 1,000-player field, the purse will climb to $200,000, including a cool $30,000 for the winner.

Side games payouts total $20,000 in Rounds 1–3, including $3,000 for closest-to-pin (aggregate), $1,750 for closest-to-pin on each par-3 hole, and $2,500 for both men’s and women’s longest drive. Two $2,000 prizes will be awarded after each round to Social Media Standouts — the top videos submitted by players as voted by followers on Instagram. One $1,000 prize will be awarded to the player who hits the Shot of the Round, as selected by the NEXT Golf Tour media team.

To encourage more women to join NEXT, the top five female finishers in Rounds 1–3 will share $15,000 in bonuses, on top of any stroke play earnings.

How it works

Season 3 of the NEXT Golf Tour consists of three full-field rounds (up to 1,000 players) followed by a Season Finale featuring the top 100 qualifiers. Each round is 18 holes of stroke play on a select Trackman virtual golf course. Rounds can be played in any Trackman simulator worldwide.

Once again, men and women compete straight-up from different tee boxes, and all players with a handicap of 3.4 or better are encouraged to join.

The entry fee remains at $130 (including 25 percent Danish VAT and a small handling fee) per round. $100 of each entry fee is added to the purse, so the more players in the field, the greater the payouts. The top 30 percent of the field in Rounds 1–3 will receive a paycheck.

Popular in-round "side games" — including multiple closest-to-pin competitions and longest drive for both men and women — continue to offer significant earning potential.

Players record their rounds using the NEXT Recorder app (available for iOS and Android) and video is uploaded to the live leaderboard after each hole, allowing fans to follow every shot from every player in near-real time.

“We are very proud of what NEXT has become and where we are headed,” Eldrup-Jørgensen said. “Our technology is changing the way people look at the indoor game, and the early success of NEXT has shown that competitive indoor golf is here to stay.”

What’s new for Season 3

To create an even better experience for both players and followers, the NEXT Golf Tour made a few changes for the upcoming season:

“Even though we are already in Season 3, NEXT is just getting started,” Eldrup-Jørgensen said. “We will keep working, we will keep learning and growing, and we will maintain a very high standard for the NEXT player and fan experience.

“The journey continues — see you on the virtual fairways!”

To learn more about the NEXT Golf Tour, including the Season 3 schedule, rules and entry details, visit NEXTGolfTour.com. Questions? Please contact Bernd Larsen Linde, Trackman VP of Marketing, at bll@trackman.com.

ABOUT TRACKMAN

Every player — from beginners to professionals to legends of the game — is driven by the desire to get better. So are we. It’s at the core of everything we do. For more than 20 years, Trackman has been the leading developer of radar tracking technology for use in golf performance analysis and entertainment. From the iconic Trackman 4 to the indoor-optimized Trackman iO to our powerful Trackman Range solution, we create products that make it more efficient, more engaging and more fun for golfers to practice, play and improve. Coaches, equipment manufacturers, clubfitters, entrepreneurs and golf organizations worldwide rely on Trackman for the dynamic tools, data and support they need to succeed. Because the journey to better never ends, and it’s never made alone. TRACKMAN. FOR A BETTER GAME.

Trackman Launches NEXT Golf Tour Season 3 (Photo: Business Wire)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament passed a law early Thursday that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations.

The law, which was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and his far-right allies, passed with a 61-41 vote. However, legal experts said that any attempt to implement the legislation would likely lead to it being struck down by Israeli courts.

The law would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who knew about their family members' attacks beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.”

They would be deported, either to the Gaza Strip or another location, for a period of seven to 20 years. The Israel-Hamas war is still raging in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed and most of the population has been internally displaced, often multiple times.

It was unclear if the law would apply in the occupied West Bank, where Israel already has a long-standing policy of demolishing family homes of attackers, which critics decry as collective punishment. Palestinians have carried out scores of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years.

Oded Feller, a legal adviser to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, dismissed the law as “populist nonsense.” He said it was unlikely to be applied, because there is no legal way for the Interior Ministry to send an Israeli citizen to another country or to Gaza.

His organization doesn't plan to challenge the law unless authorities try to enforce it, in which case he expects any court challenge to succeed.

Eran Shamir-Borer, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former international law expert for the Israeli military, agreed that the law was likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court.

He said that if a resident of east Jerusalem was deported under the law, it could be seen by many in the international community as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, because they view the area as occupied territory, although Israel does not.

The deportation of an Israeli citizen could be seen not only as a violation of their constitutional rights under Israeli law, but also as a breach of their human rights under international law, he said.

The law could also be seen as a form of collective punishment and as discriminatory, because it appears to only apply to Arab citizens and residents, and not to family members of Jews convicted under terrorism laws.

“The bottom line is this is completely nonconstitutional and a clear conflict to Israel’s core values,” Shamir-Borer said.

Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a Jewish West Bank settler leader who was himself convicted of terrorism crimes as a political activist years ago, praised the new law, noting that a member of his Jewish Power party was among the sponsors. “Jewish Power is making history!” he wrote on X.

Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war — territories the Palestinians want for their future state. It withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, but has reoccupied parts of the territory since Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023 triggered the war.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community. Palestinians there have permanent residency and are allowed to apply for citizenship, but most choose not to, and those who do face a series of obstacles.

Palestinians living in Israel make up around 20% of the country's population. They have citizenship and the right to vote but face widespread discrimination. Many also have close family ties to those in the territories and most sympathize with the Palestinian cause.

A second law that was passed Thursday allows minors between the ages of 12 and 14 to be sentenced to prison for murder or attempted murder under terrorism laws, though they must be held in a secure facility before being transferred to prison at age 14.

Previously, minors of those ages were not allowed to be sentenced to prison, according to Adalah, a legal advocacy group. It claimed the law was motivated by “revenge” and said it would affect Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of east Jerusalem.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank can already be sentenced from age 12 under Israeli military laws in the territory, Adalah said.

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at  https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, speaks to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, at the opening of the 25th Knesset session marking the anniversary of the "Iron Swords" war, in Jerusalem, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Debbie Hill/Pool Photo via AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, flanked by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, second from left, attends at the opening of the 25th Knesset session marking the anniversary of the "Iron Swords" war, in Jerusalem, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Debbie Hill/Pool Photo via AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the 25th Knesset session marking the anniversary of the "Iron Swords" war, in Jerusalem, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Debbie Hill/Pool Photo via AP)