We've teed off preparations for this year’s Open at Royal St George’s with the launch of two Facebook apps, specifically designed for The Open Championship.

The oldest championship in professional golf, The Open may be entering its 151st year but is no stranger to the digital age with just as much buzz on Facebook as there is on the green.

Our innovations for The R&A have seen the launch of two very different Facebook applications; both with the aim of increasing engagement with Facebook fans and enhancing overall brand awareness.

The first application enables The R&A to run a variety of competitions through its Open Championship Facebook page. The latest competition – http://twb.ly/opengolfcomp  – asks Facebook users to name a ‘mystery golfer’ who appears as a golf fanatic youngster in a family home video. Those who guess correctly are entered into a prize draw for a family day out at this year’s Open, including tickets, memorabilia and a golfing lesson from a pro.

To access the competition users must like the Official 'Fan Page' for The Open Championship; an incentive that has allowed The Open’s Facebook page to significantly increase its number of likes since the start of the campaign.

The second application – launching today - engages users by appealing to deeply rooted fan loyalties. Here, users can show their support for their favourite Open Championship golfer by overlaying an image of the player and The Open Championship logo onto their own profile picture. Create yours here - http://twb.ly/openbadges

We've also streamlined the user experience by choosing to employ a predictive search interface which allows users to quickly and easily select their golfer of choice without the need to scroll or perform numerous clicks.

Player overlays include everyone from Open newcomer George Coetzee to Rory McIlroy who has currently replaced Tiger Woods as the bookies’ favourite.

In keeping with the objective of generating as much social buzz for The Open Championship as possible, a viral loop is triggered when a user completes their overlay, posting out to their Facebook wall demonstrating their support and bringing further users into the application.

In the week since the apps went live, we've helped The Open Golf to increase their Facebook followers by 10%; performing solidly on par with the targets set by The R&A for their Open social media campaign during the Championship and beyond.