Ernie’s Latest News – 10 May

10 May

You always look forward to going back to a golf course of the quality of Quail Hollow and obviously a wonderful tournament such as the Wells Fargo Championship.

I’m not in the least bit surprised that this venue has been awarded the 2017 USPGA Championship and the 2021 Presidents Cup. It is just a really impressive looking golf course with a traditional, almost classic feel to it. A bit like Winged Foot actually, which is another of my favourites in North America. Anyway, last week I made a bunch of birdies and a couple of eagles, but the notorious ‘Green Mile’ – perhaps the toughest closing stretch we play on TOUR – cost me a couple of doubles over the four days. Overall it was one of those weeks where in amongst a lot of good stuff, I just wasn’t turning three shots into two often enough. Congrats to James Hahn, though, who bounced back from a run of eight straight missed cuts to claim his second PGA TOUR title. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly your fortunes can change in this game. You’ve got to love that!

Moving on, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone well at the Ernie Els-designed Four Seasons Golf Club at Anahita (pictured below), which this week hosts the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, the world’s only event tri-sanctioned between the European, Asian and Sunshine Tours. As a result of this collaboration, there are players from an incredible 29 different countries teeing it up this week…and they’re all in for a real treat because this has to be one of the most picturesque golf courses you’ll find anywhere in the world.

Anahita 2014 Gallery16

I remember the first few site visits that we did with the rest of the Ernie Els Design team; we were pretty much bowled over by the location and honestly it felt like a privilege for me as a designer to be able to go to work on a piece of land as beautiful this. And we feel that the golf course certainly does justice to its setting, highlighted by six stunning holes that play alongside the Indian Ocean. My good buddy George Coetzee is the defending champion; I wish him and all the other players a wonderful week.

I also send my best wishes and personal thanks to young Mike Usendorff, the son of Dave Usendorff who is MD of The Els Club Copperleaf. Mike is currently in training to take part in an amazing golfing challenge to help raise funds for charity, including The Ernie Els Centre for Autism in South Africa. Mike is going to attempt to play 180 holes in just 10 hours – yes, you read that correctly. That’s 10 rounds of golf in 10 hours. Wow! This marathon golfing event will take place on 16 May at Humewood Golf Club, a course I know well having won a couple of times there, including a South African Open. The event starts at 7am and is open to the public, should you wish to go along and show your support. You can also find out more, including how to make a donation, at the website: http://golf.nmmu.ac.za.

Staying on the subject of Els for Autism, our first Golf Challenge event of 2016 took place on the mighty Blue Monster at Trump National Doral Golf Club on Monday. We also held our first #GameON Autism Golf Clinic of the year there and hosted 20 players, with teaching support from our friends at The First Tee. Thanks guys!

When we launched the Golf Challenge back in 2011, which has raised over $12 million for Els for Autism, one of the first events on the schedule was Doral and they’ve remained one of our most loyal partners. The day was sold out in advance thanks to the leadership of the event’s chairman, Sergio Leao, who is also a member at Doral, and we had players from all over the world. Many of them have played every year, including our current Top Fundraiser Jim Blood who flew in from Iowa just to tee it up and support the cause.

That typifies the spirit of the Golf Challenge; it really has become like one big extended family. Everyone strives to raise the maximum funds to help those on the spectrum and to secure their places at the Grand Finale in Las Vegas, where they get to re-connect with like-minded friends and share the special bond that unites the autism community. It’s so gratifying for Liezl and I to be a part of this and we couldn’t do it without all of our amazing golfers and donors, and the help of our Presenting Sponsor, SAP, and our Organising Sponsors, RBC, Adams Golf and Wine Spectator. We have also had huge support from our on-course sponsors, including Boeing and Maui Jim, among others.

Please click here if you’d like to take part in this year’s Golf Challenge.

For me, I’m now looking forward to this week’s PLAYERS Championship at its traditional home, TPC Sawgrass in Florida. In fact, Pete Dye’s famous Stadium Course is marking its 35th year as host of the PGA TOUR’s flagship tournament. I’ve been coming here myself for almost 25 years, which I kind of find hard to believe, but there you go! My tournament starts in the company of Matt Every and Aaron Baddeley, teeing off at 7.48am from the 10th tee on Thursday and at 1.03pm from the 1st tee on Friday.

It’s one of the shorter layouts that we play, but it counters with great variety. No two consecutive holes play in the same direction and there is a good mix of short and long 3s, 4s and 5s. The 17th, with its island green surrounded by water that claims an average of 45 golf balls every tournament, gets a lot of attention, but it really is a good all-round test of golf. It can really bite you in the behind if you’re not careful, but if you drive it well and hit your irons in the correct spots, and you pick your moments to be aggressive, you can make a score around here. To be honest, it’s not really happened for me since my last top-10 back in 2008. Still, I always look forward to teeing it up here. There is a really strong field and it has that buzz of something a little bit special, which it obviously is.

That’s it for now. Follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.

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