Ernie registered a fifth top-5 finish in his last seven starts at last week’s SAS Championship. Ernie, a winner of the event in 2020, closed with a fine 68 in tough conditions to finish at 6-under par and runner-up. It places Ernie fourth on the money list moving into the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs starting in Richmond, Virginia, on October 17. The season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship will be played at Phoenix CC, Arizona, from November 13-16.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, South Africa won the prestigious Eisenhower Trophy, golf’s World Amateur Team Championship, for the first time in their history. Christiaan Maas, Daniel Bennett and Charl Barnard won by eight shots, with Christiaan winning the individual title by an astonishing 10 shots. Ernie was quick to congratulate his young countrymen on social media, posting on Instagram: “Congratulations guys. Special acknowledgement to coach Nico Van Rensburg.” As well as being a successful coach and former tour winner, Nico is the commercial manager for the Ernie Els Group in South Africa.
Away from the tournament scene, Ernie used the previous week off to pay a visit to Bridgesong in Blanchard, Oklahoma, a world-class resort-destination where an Ernie Els Design golf course is currently under construction. It is expected to open for play in 2027. Ernie was accompanied by Bridgesong co-owner and Blanchard resident James French, as well as project investors Renee Mardis and Joe Steier, and Ernie Els Design’s senior design associate Greg Letsche.
“I played the Tour Championship here in Oklahoma, in Tulsa, back in the mid-90s, and actually one of my first ever tournaments as a professional was here in 1990,” said Ernie as he recalled his earliest experiences in Oklahoma. He explained that his primary connection with this project is through the firm’s senior design associate Greg Letsche.
“Greg is our architect and we have been together for over 20 years now,” commented Ernie. “Greg is very good friends with the partners on this project. It wasn’t originally going to be branded an Ernie Els Design, but when I saw the site and what we had to work with, I said ‘I want my name on this!’ Bridgesong will be a state-of-the-art golf course and hopefully the word is getting around, because we are really doing something special here. This is God’s country. There will be a lot of bridges, hence the name of the golf course, there’s obviously a lot of water, a river is going to flow through the property. It’s going to be a natural beauty and a really competitive championship golf course, but also a course where an ‘everyday guy’ can play.”
Stated plans for the Bridgesong project have included over 600 surrounding, single-family residences, a 130-room hotel, restaurants, retail sites and a bison preserve, among other amenities.
Bridgesong co-owner and Blanchard resident James French said, “Aside from Ernie’s professional accomplishments, he is one of the most humble and unique people that I have ever met in my life. He loves Blanchard, he loves being here. Having Ernie here this week to give our site his blessing and to give his opinion about all the things that go into golf and about the beautiful land that God made for us to build our course on, that’s incredible.”
For more information on the Ernie Els Design portfolio of golf courses that are either open for play, in planning or under construction, view the Design menu above and click ‘Course Portfolio’.
