ONE of City of Joburg’s flagship sporting events, the Joburg Open, will not only reach out to the community but has made history to become the first tri-sanctioned golf tournament on South African soil.
On September 13 it has also been announced that the Joburg Open will be played at a new venue and take place on a new date on the Sunshine Tour this year.
At the launch of the R16.5-million tournament at Soweto Country Club on Wednesday, Sunshine Tour executive director, Selwyn Nathan, announced that the Joburg Open will be played at Randpark Golf Club over two courses from December 7 to 10 and will be tri-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, European Tour and Asian Tour.
Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, the traditional home of the tournament, is undergoing extensive upgrades to its East Course.
Former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen has also confirmed that he will play in the Joburg Open as it marks a new era in its history.
The tournament will once again form part of the Open Championship’s International Qualifying, offering three spots into the Major for the leading three finishers in the top 10 who are not already exempt.
The Joburg Open will also be the penultimate event on the Asian Tour schedule and will be crucial in the race for the Order of Merit title.
Photo: Annette van Schalkwyk.
“This is an exciting time for the growth of the Joburg Open and we welcome our new partners, the Asian Tour, in this endeavour,” said Nathan.
“The strength of the Sunshine Tour has always been the excellent relationships we have with the other major tours of the world and this allows us to keep creating opportunities for our members and global value for our sponsors.”
The field for this December’s Joburg Open will be 240 professionals, including 30 Asian Tour members, four amateur invites, and then the remainder to be shared between the European Tour and Sunshine Tour.
Herman Mashaba, executive mayor of the City of Joburg, said that together with this news, the City of Johannesburg will upgrade the Soweto Country Club to an extend that it is a competitive terrain for international competition. “We will not stop to uplift to communities in Johannesburg and provide much-needed help to the surrounding communities. We will also ask the people of Johannesburg to keep their environment clean in order for us to be able to promote tourist and sports people to their area.”
He said the changes reflect the Joburg Open’s original strategy to keep positioning the city to a global audience.
“We are thrilled to welcome on board the Asian Tour and excited at the new markets this affords us in terms of coverage of the Joburg Open. Our aim from the start, with this tournament, was to showcase all that Johannesburg has to offer, and to now include Asia in this is a big step forward for us.”
For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za
Add us on WhatsApp today! Comaro Chronicle: 079 427 8074 and Southern Courier: 079 404 5789.
