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The acceleration of the little white ball at the Tee-Off makes Golf one of the "fastest" sports in the world. But how fast is it really, especially in comparison to the acceleration of a car or motorcycle? An attempt was made to answer this rather unusual question on August 28 during the events leading up to this years BMW International Open golf tournament.

Ian Poulter, member of the victorious Ryder Cup Team Europe 2004, and TV host and amateur golfer Sonja Zietlow faced the tough motorized competition of racing star Hans Joachim Stuck and Stunt World-Champion Chris Pfeiffer. The vehicles with which they had to beat the ball were a BMW M5 and a K1200R motorcycle respectively. The task: catch up with the golf ball, er even better, overtake it before it hits the ground.

Ian Poulter and Sonja Zietlow used three different clubs to tee-off: first a Sand Wedge, then a 6 Iron, last a Driver. Simultaneously to the tee-off, the M5 and the K1200R had to accelerate from a standing start.

The tee-of with a Sand-Wedge generates a high and short curve which handed Stuck and Pfeiffer an advantage. Never the less the M5 was not able to beat the ball to the finish. In this one the motorcycle came out the winner.

Ian Poulters tee-offs with the 6 Iron and the Driver proved a lot more difficult for the motorized competition to manage. The M5 still did not stand a chance, while the K1200R almost managed to catch up with the ball. Well..., almost.

Sonja Zietlows tee-off turned out slightly weaker the Ian's, which did not make a difference for the BMW M5: still not a chance. The K1200R motorcycle did better against the amateur golfer by passing the ball before it hit the ground.

What do we learn from this: If you drive a fancy sports car, don't mess with golfers. If your ride is a powerful bike you still shouldn't, but at least you might just stand a chance.