Where is this year going? We’re now looking at the final push towards the end of the Champions Tour season. This is how my schedule looks for the next six weeks…
Oct 6-8, Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS, Timuquana CC, Florida
Oct 13-15, SAS Championship, Prestonwood CC, Cary, North Carolina
Oct 20-22, Dominion Energy Charity Classic, The Country Club of Virginia, Virginia
Nov 3-5, TimberTech Championship, The Old Course at Broken Sound, Florida
Nov 9-12, Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Phoenix CC, Phoenix, Arizona
I’ll play every one of these tournaments. The Charles Schwab money list may be all but sewn-up after a great stretch of tournaments by Steve Stricker, but there’s a lot to play for still. As always, I’m motivated to keep putting in the work and to try to play my best golf and finish the season strongly. There’s never a bad time to win!
Shortly after the conclusion of the Champions Tour season we have a brand new event, the World Champions Cup taking place at The Concession GC in Florida from December 7-10. The course name is actually inspired by Jack Nicklaus’ famous gesture of conceding the final putt to Tony Jacklin in the 1969 Ryder Cup and the pair of them were responsible for the design of this layout, so it’s a fitting venue for this new matchplay event.
I’m the playing captain for the Internationals against the Europeans, led by Darren Clarke, and Jim Furyk’s American team. We’re all looking forward to it. This is obviously going to be a lot of fun, but you know it’s going to be super-competitive, too. We’ll all be fired-up for this. And it’s a nine-hole format, which is going to be interesting. There’s certainly no room for slow starts; you need to come out of the blocks fast and all guns blazing. For that reason, it’s going to be an entertaining spectacle for the fans.
Away from golf, last month we celebrated another landmark moment in the story of Els for Autism with the grand opening of the Stoops Family Adult Services Building, a dedicated space for adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Pictured below from left-to-right: major donors Cindy & Randy Langenfeld, Executive Director Dr. Marlene Sotelo, Ben Els, co-founder Liezl Els, client Tyler Pavkov, co-founder Ernie Els, client Jennifer Langenfeld, Chairman Dr. Michael Alessandri, major donors Agnes, Jeff, & Lauren Stoops. This impressive facility, located at The Els Center of Excellence® campus in Jupiter, Florida, is a place for individuals with ASD to access the essential support and services needed during the transition to adulthood years and throughout life as an adult. It represents a significant step in the foundation’s long-term vision of creating a world of limitless possibilities for individuals with ASD and their families.
Liezl and I want to personally extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this new building a reality. We couldn’t have reached this milestone without the incredible support of our community, generous donors, dedicated staff, and enthusiastic volunteers. We never take for granted their faith in us and their belief in our mission; they really are the driving force behind this latest achievement. For more information on this new building and The Els for Autism Foundation and its many activities and fundraising initiatives, please visit the official website: https://www.elsforautism.org/.
This past few months there’s also been a lot of buzz on the golf course design front. I’d love to tell you more right now, but some of the news is embargoed for the time being. We can, however, share this stunning new image (below and top of page) taken this month at one of our existing projects at Ernie Els Design, Lido Lakes in Indonesia, which we anticipate will open for play around the middle of 2024.
I was seriously impressed when we first went here some years back. For a golf course designer, these are the kind of settings you love to work with. It’s a majestic landscape, located between two volcanoes, and there are some truly breathtaking holes. All of us are excited about this one and we believe Lido Lakes is going to be a new go-to destination for golfers in south east Asia.
Anyway, as I said, there’s lots of exciting news to come from Ernie Els Design in the coming months. Watch this space!
Finally, just a quick acknowledgment – it’s now five years since I became a global ambassador for XXIO, including Srixon and Cleveland. As another season moves towards its conclusion, I want to thank them and all of my sponsors for the continued support. These three equipment brands have provided a great mix for me. I won both my US Opens using Cleveland wedges and in my opinion you can’t beat them for aesthetics and performance. And being involved with a new brand like XXIO has been very enjoyable; they’re really going places and it’s always nice to have some input with the team in regard to the company’s product development. Here’s my current Kit List in full…
Driver: XXIO 12 Driver, 8.7 degrees
3-wood: XXIO X 3-wood, 14 degrees, EvenFlow Blue 6.5 85x shaft
Irons 2-5: Srixon ZX Mk II utility irons with KBS S-taper 130X shaft
Irons 6-9: Srixon ZX7 Mk II irons with KBS S-taper 130X shaft
Wedges: Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Tour Rack wedges 52MB, 56MB, 60LB with KBS S taper 130X
Golf Ball: Srixon Z Star XV (yellow)
Glove: Srixon
Putter: Bloodline
Shoes: Puma PROADAPT ALPHACAT
Apparel: Bobby Jones & Sunice Sports
That’s it for now. I’ll write again soon.
