The 107th playing of the BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni, the second oldest national open in world golf, was another special week for the players, the fans, and basically anyone who loves sport in South Africa.
I’ve been playing this event since my amateur days, and have been fortunate to put my name on the trophy on five occasions, and obviously it’s an honour for me to now be the tournament host and ambassador. For a small country like ours, so far south on the globe, having this kind of history and heritage in our national open is really unbelievable. All South Africans can be proud of that.
Equally, all of us established home players have a responsibility to ensure this tournament is sustainable and thriving for generations to come, so it was exciting that a lot of the South Africans players teed it up last week. There are so many of our young players knocking on the door of doing great things, becoming fine players, and it’s nice for the home fans to see them in action. And it’s a buzz for all of us to play in front of those home fans, so thank you to everyone who came along to Glendower and showed their support for us and for their national open.
It must be said, one of the wonderful things about professional golf is the spirit of ‘giving back’ that runs through all the Tours. We have several initiatives in place at the SA Open, including the BlueOut day that was really well supported, which help raise awareness and funds. All proceeds go towards The Els for Autism Foundation and The Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation (EEFF). On that note, one of our current EEFF members, Jovan Rebula, was in the field at Glendower, while eight former members, Branden Grace, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Keenan Davidse, Jared Harvey, Makhetha Mazibuko, Toto Thimba, Heinrich Bruiners and James Kamte, were also in action. That’s so good to see. Anyway, big thanks again to BMW, the City of Ekurhuleni, and to the European Tour and Sunshine Tour, who continue to help us every year in our charitable endeavours.
It’s also worth making a special mention for the staff at Glendower, who presented the golf course in superb shape last week. The greens in particular were phenomenal; honestly, I think it’s the best I’ve seen them and they may be the quickest surfaces I’ve ever played on in South Africa. Great job guys.
Chris Paisley (above) certainly enjoyed the greens! Congrats to him on a strong performance and claiming his first European Tour win, a special moment for any player. Chris did a standout job staying calm and composed on Sunday, especially with a player of Branden Grace’s class breathing down his neck all day. Well done also to Kyle McClatchie who captured the Freddie Tait Cup as leading amateur. We wish him well as he starts down the road in his career as a professional golfer.
So, moving on. I’ve now got a couple of weeks ahead of me in the Middle East with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA, followed by the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. This is a slot in the calendar that any golfer relishes; two great tournaments supported by wonderful sponsors, played on two fine golf courses and nearly always in perfect weather. Not much wrong with that, is there! Obviously, having won both tournaments (three wins in the case of the Dubai Desert Classic), they’re special weeks. You always love to go back to a course where you’ve won.
With these two back-to-back events, alongside last week’s SA Open, it makes it a really enjoyable way for me to start the calendar year. My hunger for competition is as strong as ever. I was pretty happy with my first week ‘back at work’ so to speak, and it was nice to get four solid rounds under my belt at Glendower. In the coming weeks and months it’s all about fighting hard to get something going, some momentum rolling. Last year was a funny year, with my daughter Samantha going to college and a couple of injuries that held me back and affected my game and my results. But I feel healthy at the moment and really want to play some good golf this year. Hopefully I can get some of the old magic back and return to the winner’s circle. That’s the goal that I’ve set myself.
Okay, I’ll write again soon. In the meantime, follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.
