First of all, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope that 2016 is a great one for you.
It’s been wonderful enjoying our customary Christmas holiday with family and friends in Herold’s Bay. As is usually the case over the festive period, I found it almost impossible to put the clubs away for more than a few days. There’s always a good game to be had here and I have some very competitive friends, so whenever we play together there’s no shortage of banter and always something on the line! It’s fun and it helps keep me sharp during time off.
As always, though, it is the prospect of getting back into the swing of competition golf that really gets the juices flowing. Even after 25-plus years on Tour it’s still an exciting time for me – the start of a whole new season – and especially as we begin 2016 in style with this week’s BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni. So after a quick post-vacation haircut on Monday afternoon, I jumped on the plane to Jo’burg and we’re now here and looking forward to a fantastic week.
Everyone knows how much this tournament means to me; it’s our national open, the 105th edition this year, and I love to compete in front of the home fans. This is my second year as the official tournament host and last year I really enjoyed the experience of returning to my golfing roots, being back in the city where I’m from. I know it’s going to be special again this week. I played a lot of junior golf at nearby Kempton Park and some amateur events here at Glendower, so there are some nice memories for me in this part of the world.
And I really enjoy this golf course. Glendower is a beautiful, classic-style parkland course, with great bunkering, and it has a nicely balanced risk-reward shot values. The whole area is suffering with drought conditions so the rough won’t be as penal as last year, but a huge congratulations to the greens staff, because they’ve got the golf course in fantastic shape.
Obviously my priority this week is trying to win my sixth South African Open, but I also take seriously my commitments as the tournament’s host. Honestly, to be involved in a capacity where I can give something back to this tournament is just a phenomenal gift. For me and for all of the established home players, we have a shared collective responsibility to ensure that South Africa’s flagship tournament is sustainable and thriving for generations to come. We’ll continue working with the Sunshine Tour to achieve this shared vision, to keep pushing the message out there and try to attract more of the world’s best players. It’s exciting to be part of an initiative that is putting a great tournament back on the map.
The pro-am took place on Tuesday, which was a great day and we had a fantastic reception afterwards at Emperors Palace Hotel with the prize winners. The winners came in with an impressive score, helped with some stellar play including a hole-in-one!
There was also some great news that two current members from the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation, David Myers and Cameron Moralee, both pre-qualified yesterday and will be playing for the Freddie Tate Trophy, awarded to the top amateur at the SA Open. I am really proud of their achievement.
The Els for Autism Foundation is also another big focus for us this week and the tournament allows us to spread awareness. On Thursday, Glendower and the Els for Autism team will be hosting another of the #GameON autism clinics, which have proved so popular and successful both in the US and in South Africa. I remember from last year’s clinic the joy on the kids’ faces and the great feedback from them; it was really wonderful to see. Being active in golf and having fun, that’s what the #GameON autism clinics are all about and I thank the staff at Glendower for their continued support in having hosted several of these events in the past 12 months.
Okay, that’s about it for now. If you’re coming to Glendower this week, I hope you enjoy the experience and thanks for supporting this historic tournament. Thanks also to everyone at the Sunshine Tour, European Tour, South African Open, BMW and The City of Ekurhuleni, and all the other tournament sponsors, for making Els for Autism and the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation the beneficiary charities this week.
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