Golf tournament a boost for Valley
2007-10-31
REIGNING US Open golfing champion Angel Cabrera will lead a field that includes four Major winners and two Presidents Cup campaigners when the South African Airways Open tees off at Pearl Valley Golf Estate on 13 December.
Cabrera will join defending South African Airways Open champion Ernie Els, former champion Retief Goosen and former world number one Greg Norman on the fairways of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Pearl Valley when the 1 000 000 Championship is played there from 13 to 16 December.
It was recently announced that Pearl Valley Golf Estate will become the home of the Championship for the next three years.
The three-year deal is aimed at ensuring greater investment in the medium and long-term success of the Open.
The deal, and the presence of five of the world’s leading golfers and the iconic Norman, offer powerful examples of the growing status the South African Airways Open enjoys on the international golf schedule.
Cabrera returns to the Championship having claimed his first Major in the US Open at Oakmont this year, while Els and Goosen bring a total of five Majors between them – and Norman brings a record of 88 tournament wins including two Majors.
The world-class field also includes Presidents Cup campaigners and former South African Airways Open champions Trevor Immelman and Tim Clark.
In the last five years, Els (2006 champion), Goosen (December 2005 champion), Immelman (2003 and 2004 champion) and Clark (2002 and January 2005 champion) have dominated the Championship, with the winner emerging from South Africa’s leading campaigners on the global stage.
This year’s field for the Sunshine Tour and European Tour co-sanctioned tournament also does justice to the new era into which the second oldest national Open in golf is moving.
Traditionally, the Championship has travelled around the country every year. But as Neale Kunhardt, President of the South African Golf Association explained, the Championship has found its own Augusta National in Pearl Valley.
“The decision to make Pearl Valley the home of the South African Airways Open for the next three years will be a major boost for our premier event.
It will enable the organisers to concentrate their efforts on both short and medium term objectives, knowing that any enhancements made this year will benefit the event for the next two years as well.
“Pearl Valley has become a great test of golf in a very short time and the anticipated challenge will certainly excite both players and spectators over the next three years.”
Pearl Valley is widely regarded as one of the finest tests in the game.
Tickets to attend the SAA Open are available from Computicket. To find information on the event go to www.saaopen.com.
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