Africa’s major chance

THE 2016 Nedbank Golf Challenge, hosted by Gary Player, will undergo a major transformation as Sun City celebrates the inclusion of “Africa’s Major” on The European Tour’s elite Final Series of the Race to Dubai.

This announcement was made on Wednesday, August 17, and the golfing fraternity can look forward to a fierce tournament, with the front runners on the golfing circuit playing in this year’s tournament.

Golf fans attending this year’s tournament at the Gary Player Country Club, from November 10 to 13, will witness a significant upgrade in the tournament infrastructure, as well as several other enhancements to mark this new era in the event’s illustrious history.

The Challenge will form part of one of the richest season finales in world golf and will have a premier place the week before The European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

It is set to draw the cream of The European Tour’s global stars, with the field having been increased from the current 30 players to 72 players. With no halfway cut it will also guarantee South African golf fans four days of world-class golf action.

The new status of the tournament also comes with a further three-year sponsorship from Nedbank, making this the longest running sports sponsorship in the bank’s history.

“The tournament has changed dramatically and grown immensely, and we are making several changes to reflect this at Sun City,” said Dan Sevel, Sun International’s sports marketing manager, who will, from 2017, take over as head of the $7-million tournament for Sun International.

“The new initiatives around this year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge have been designed with its elevated global status in mind and to create a more holistic experience for the golf fan.

”I think the fans who have been coming to this event for the past several years are going to be blown away by its new look.

“There will be a totally new fan experience from the main gate and when entering the Gary Player Country Club.

”As you enter, in previous years you walked through a main expo building to access the club, and it did have some experiences for the golf fan. But, tournament director Alastair Roper and his team have come up with an entirely new way to present this and add brand new life to this entrance.”

According to Sevel, one of the major upgrades at Sun City that will also feature in the week of the 2016 Nedbank Golf Challenge, is the new Entertainment Centre.

According to Roper, who has overseen a staggering 19 editions of this tournament, the new entrance will be a much more personal experience for the golf fans.

Credit: NGC

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