Gary Player makes history in Soweto
A world-class golf course underway.
The Soweto Country Club (SCC) took a big leap forward in the development of the country club. The big step forward came when the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour, European Tour, Sunshine Tour, Asian Tour, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) all came together to support one South African’s greatest golfers in history. Gary Player finally fulfilled one of his longstanding endeavours by announcing; at his 80th birthday celebration that he would gladly commit himself to the redesign of the SCC, for free.
He has included new fairways, bunkers, tee boxes, greens and an irrigation system in the blueprints. Officials are cross-checking possible service providers for the approaching project that will be guided by Gary Player and his design approval. This announcement came after Player revealed Gary Player Design (GPD); his golf course architecture firm. Player said that GPD would take lead on the retribution and redesign of SCC.
Herman Mashaba, the mayor of the CoJ turned soil of the SCC as the retribution of the country club was announced by Player. Everest Primary School youngsters and the Westbury Stars Golf Academy were also present at the SCC. Shahiem Ismail, the founder of the Westbury Sports Academy and qualified level one golf coach with the PGA said, “Our kids need a lot of help, so I call upon other golfers in our community to assist with coaching clinics. Our youngsters are talented and I believe we can get professional golfers for the future out of our community.”
