Top golfers stake a claim for top golf honours
The SA Open will take place from January 9 to 12 at Randpark Golf Club.
Louis Oosthuizen heads to the Randpark Golf Club this coming week as the defending champion and the new Player Host of the South African Open hosted by the City of Joburg.
Oosthuizen joined an exclusive club with his six-stroke victory at Randpark in December 2018.
The South African Open was played twice in 2018, in January and December, with the December edition forming part of the 2018-19 season.
His win saw him become the fourth South African to win both The Open Championship and South African Open hosted by the City of Joburg, following Bobby Locke, Gary Player and Ernie Els.
From January 9 to 12 he will join an even more exclusive club as he follows Els as the new Player Host of the second oldest national open in golf, which is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and European Tour.
This year the championship will make history when the official pro-am is hosted at Soweto Country Club for the first time, exposing a global audience to the recently refurbished course designed by Player, and which, in partnership with the South African Golf Development Board (SAGDB), is now helping to stimulate the growth of golf in the iconic township.
Oosthuizen’s role is a new chapter for the golfer who is currently the highest ranked South African in the world at number 20, and coincides perfectly with the Sunshine Tour’s new #Gr8nessBeginsHere campaign reflecting the tour’s status as the birthplace of golf’s next global stars.
This year’s field includes the best of the current and future stars of South African golf.
Oosthuizen leads a field that includes former South African Open champion, Brandon Stone, as well as Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel, Erik van Rooyen, Justin Harding, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Zander Lombard and George Coetzee.
Wilco Nienaber, Deon Germishuys, Thriston Lawrence and Garrick Higgo, are among the next generation of South African professionals who will challenge for glory in their national open.
The amateur field is also strong, and a testament to the structures that exist within GolfRSA, geared to produce world-class golfers.
The amateur field will be led by South African number one Jayden Schaper. Jovan Rebula, the winner of the Freddie Tait Cup in the December 2018 edition, awarded to the leading amateur at the end of the championship, will also feature in the tourney. Teenage sensation, Yurav Premlall, who in December 2018 made history as the youngest amateur to qualify for the South African Open at the age of 15, will also make a stake at the title. Casey Jarvis, Martin Vorster, Samuel Simpson, Jordan Duminy, Kyle de Beer and Christo Lamprecht, will be among the top names in the championship stakes.
The championship will also once again form part of The Open qualifying series as it takes its place among 16 events in eleven countries and across five continents that offer qualifying opportunities for the 149th Open at Royal St George’s in July this year.
