Boksburg’s Casey Jarvis will lead five of South Africa’s most promising amateurs in a star-studded field who will line up for the South African Open Championship (SAOC) at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City from December 3 to 6.
The South African Golf Association (SAGA) recently announced the amateur quintet exempt from qualifying for the R19.5-million tournament, supported by Nedbank and Sun International and co-sanctioned by the Sunshine and European Tours.
“As the custodians of the SA Open, we are extremely proud and honoured to offer our top talents this marvellous opportunity to test themselves in a championship of this stature,” said SAGA acting president Martin Saaiman.
“We are delighted to announce that our reigning SA Amateur champion and No 1 Casey Jarvis will spearhead the group. He will be joined by fellow GolfRSA national squad members Kyle de Beer, Yurav Premlall, Sam Simpson and Christo Lamprecht.”
The 110th playing of the SAOC was announced on October 22 and the SAGA selection committee made their final selection the following day.
“Casey automatically qualified as the 2020 SA amateur champion and we selected the next four players based on the GolfRSA open amateur rankings,” added Saaiman.
“Since all our national tournaments were cancelled at the end of March due to the nationwide lockdown, we had no choice but to base our selection on the rankings as it stood at the end of March.
“Martin Vorster, who is second in the rankings, however advised us that he would be unavailable for selection because he is still recovering from a wrist injury.
“We wish these five amateurs well as they test themselves against a strong international field at the iconic Gary Player Country Club.”
It will be a second appearance for Jarvis from State Mines, de Beer from Port Elizabeth and Durbanville’s Simpson. The trio made their debut at Randpark Golf Club in January, with Jarvis advancing at the 36-hole mark and finishing joint 36th.
Glendower’s Premlall was just 15 years and five months old when he re-wrote the SA Open record books as the youngest amateur to qualify for the SA Open and make the 36-hole cut at Randpark Golf Club in December 2018. He will celebrate his third start at Sun City.
Lamprecht, also a former SA Amateur champion, was the youngest player in the field when he made his debut at Glendower Golf Club in January 2018. The Pinnacle Point golfer returns for a fourth time to stake a claim on the Freddie Tait Cup.
The SAOC will complete a thrilling three-week run of tournaments co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and European Tour, following the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club and the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.
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