The annual event took place for the fifteenth time. The first Bayer 04 golfers to start included Fernando Carro, CEO, the two managing directors of TecArenaPlus GmbH Felix Duden and Ulrich Wölfer plus Dr. Karl-Heinrich Dittmar, medical director. And club representative Stefan Kießling plus the Werkself players Jonas Hofmann and Niklas Lomb also joined in. Markus Breglec, chief marketing and innovation officer, joined the event in the evening.
Other participants included several Bayer 04 partners plus former javelin world champion and current head of the Leverkusen sports college Steffi Nerius.
After a relaxed breakfast, the 80 participants made their way onto the course at the Leverkusen Golf Club at 11.30 CEST. They played a round of 18 holes with a shotgun start. The golf continued until late afternoon and was followed by an evening meal together to round off the day.
It was a successful day all round for club representative Stefan Kießling: "We had perfect conditions today: A brilliant course, great weather and top catering. Once again it was a very professionally organised tournament and it was real fun," he said before adding: "I've known a lot of them for fifteen years and the tournament is now an institution that you look forward to each year. And it's also great that so much money has been raised for a good cause at the end of the day."
A total of €17,000 was collected this year in aid of the Deutscher Kinderschutzbund Leverkusen. The donation was made up of the entry fees for participants and was added to by an auction in the evening with a number of partners donating prizes.
Kießling presented a cheque to Ingo Ende, CEO of the Deutscher Kinderschutzbund Leverkusen. Ende said: "As the Kinderschutzbund Leverkusen, we are very grateful to Bayer 04 and all supporters of the tournament today for the generous donation. We will be able to make optimum use of this money in different areas including counselling sessions with children who are in need and suffering mentally and physically. Thanks to your donation we are able to continue helping them.”
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
Show more
Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
Show more
Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
Show more
The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
Show more
While the majority of the Bayer 04 Women are enjoying their summer break, nine Werkself players will be on duty for their national teams in the coming days. Three of them are competing for a place at the World Cup, while six are involved in two friendlies with the Germany U23 team.
Show more
