NO ORDINARY MONDAY

Words by Jools Moore Photography by Julia Boikova

As the sun rises on a clear Monday morning in Marsa, the verdant vistas of the Royal Malta Golf Course illuminate like an oasis on a cool day, welcoming the first visitors to a week of iGaming NEXT activities in Malta. For the eager golfers rolling up to the club reception for the Enteractive One Day Tournament - some local, others arriving from across Europe and America - this is the perfect way to start what promises to be a busy week of networking, business and pleasure.

The Putter’s Inn, above the club building, is a hive of activity with golfers signing in for the tournament registration. They’ve arrived from far and wide, some from the US, many from across Europe, and of course some well-known golfing regulars from Malta. And plenty of companies are represented - William Hill, Yolo, Play’n GO, Kalamba, Soft2Bet, Playson, Novitana, Evolution, and a host of others.

It’s an early start, made more palatable by coffee and breakfast pastries, alongside the requisite merchandise to aid the players on their progression round the eighteen holes of the course. Sponsored by Enteractive, a service provider that works with iGaming brands around the globe to help drive active players for operators, there are Titleist caps, water bottles and sports towels to keep participants cool and hydrated as the day’s heat starts to push the mercury up the temperature gauge.

Outside, a parking lot of electric buggies hum into life for the lucky ones who managed to book one, while the strong and the brave haul their heavy bags upon the days young shoulders to set off for their starting tee - the format is a Texas scramble, so each group of four will tee off at the same time from different locations around the course.

The Royal Malta Golf Club is a rambling and spectacular space sporting the single largest area of green grass on the island, located in between built up Maltese neighborhoods and the country’s international airport. Trees sway gently in the morning breeze, and shafts of sunlight catch the dust thrown up by the buggies on their way round the dry pathways. The first swings connect with the golf balls, sending them shooting into the blue with the players’ keen eyes tracking them until barely visible. For most anyway! There’s some experienced golfers here, and some less so, providing amusement for each other as the occasional drive becomes more of a trick shot, slicing vertically upwards to be caught by hand by the same player who struck it! One errant ball somehow evades the protective netting and bounces onto the roof of the clubhouse. But that’s all OK, since the format for this tournament takes the best shots on each hole for each team, sparing those less adept with golf clubs the embarrassment of zig-zagging down the fairway, while barely landing on it! It’s the theme for the day - a healthy dash of golf, with an extra helping of fun…

Nevertheless, competitiveness still has its place in the day’s play - bragging rights for the winning team, as well as individual success to achieve by being closest to the pin on the 13th or hitting the longest drive on the 15th, the reward for each being a brand new iPad courtesy of Enteractive.

For some, hopes and dreams come true with a good, solid round, taking home the iGaming NEXT trophy - congratulations go to the winning team, Alex Haig, Alex Hillblom, Sam Bhatti, and Davide Marchisio. For others, redemption awaits only at the bottom of an empty pint glass after the final holes are completed. But for all, it’s a good Monday - a superb start to the week. As canapes and an open bar wrap up the proceedings in the afternoon, new found camaraderie sets the wheels in motion for the business end of the iGaming NEXT proceedings lasting out the week. It has begun.