As an organiser of amateur as well as professional golf tournaments around the world for 22 years, BMW recognises the growing importance of the sport for its target audiences. The 2006 BMW International Open in Munich, where the company headquarters are located, set a new record with 68,500 visitors. This year, the event, which took place from June 21st to 24th at Munich Eichenried Golf Club, once again reported excellent attendance figures.
Taking place directly after the US Open, the BMW International Open 2007 marked the beginning of a series of high-ranking golf tournaments in Europe. Defending champion Henrik Stenson (Sweden) and Ernie Els (South Africa), currently ranked fifth and sixth in the world respectively, led the high-class field of players. This year, victory once again went to a Swede: Niclas Fasth. In addition, a number of famous amateur players also attended the event, including the former professional football player Andreas Möller, the singers Howard Carpendale and Haddaway, as well as TV presenter Jörg Wontorra and the former professional tennis player Bernd Karbacher.
Of the 27 holes on the Munich Eichenried course, the 18 most challenging fairways were arranged to form a championship course, which stretched the pros to the limit. With an overall length of 6,366m, the course offered the classic arrangement of four par 3, ten par 4, and four par 5 holes.
Dallmeier technology on display
Traditionally, selected companies from a variety of industries such as Rolex, Die Welt (newspaper), Focus, Hugo Boss and Emirates are invited to present their products during the BMW International Open. Regensburg CCTV/IP specialist Dallmeier, in cooperation with its partner Securitas, gave an impressive presentation of its monitoring solutions in the area of video surveillance.
Two cameras monitored both the start and finish of the tournament: the tee-off at the first and the green at the eighteenth. The pictures were transmitted to a DMS 240 "Leonardo" digital recorder, located on Securitas' exhibition stand.
The outstanding quality of the pictures transmitted attracted and fascinated numerous visitors. Spectators followed the action on the fairway in real-time, or reviewed the recording of their own tee-off after the game. The images were available for viewing on a monitor and on a PDA.
Video surveillance on the golf course
Modern video security technology is increasingly being used on the golf course. In addition to traditional areas of application such as the surveillance of important areas (shops, cash desks, car parks, etc.) or the recording of practice tee shots, another field of application is attracting more and more attention: the recording of games of golf in order to validate prize claims.
Many golf tournaments offer high-value material and cash prizes. Understandably, tournament officials want to be able to conclusively verify a player's claim to the prize. Dallmeier has developed two general approaches to provide suitable solutions: firstly, fixed cameras, which record onto a digital video recorder and secondly, mobile surveillance systems on golf buggies, which offer perfect coverage of the most difficult course angles.
Fixed cameras
Dallmeier cameras are installed in suitable locations with the image data recorded onto a Dallmeier DVR - a system, which was impressively demonstrated during the BMW International Open.
Mobile surveillance system
With this novel surveillance system, which has already proven itself at several golf tournaments, Dallmeier again demonstrates its pioneering role and innovative strength. Golf buggies are "converted" into mobile surveillance units, equipped with a telescopic mast up to five meters high with four cameras on it. The buggy carries a mobile Dallmeier recorder (M-DMS 4), which because of its small size, can easily be stored in a lockable box sitting on the passenger seat. A compact LCD monitor for easy configuration of the PTZ cameras, a power supply unit, a GPS transmitter, and a wireless network complete the equipment. The player registers with an automatic machine, which is connected to a recorder. Registration activates recording in the DVR, which saves an image of the player together with the ticket data.
The buggy is positioned on the fairway in a way that enables the cameras to see the complete hole from tee to green. Thanks to the recording of the game and the data stored beforehand, the panel of judges is able to determine exactly whether or not a player is eligible to receive the prize.
Dallmeier benefits from the BMW International Open
Christian Linthaler, Sales Manager at Dallmeier, who attended the tournament, was very satisfied. "We made a number of interesting new contacts at the BMW International Open. Many of the players who originally just wanted to see their own tee-off again were amazed by the Dallmeier technology."