South African Olympic duo to play in Nedbank Golf Challenge

MALELANE, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 07: Erik van Rooyen during round 1 of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club on December 07, 2023 in Malelane, South Africa. (Photo by Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour)

The South African Olympic duo of Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen have confirmed their participation in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player at Sun City from December 5-8, 2024, with tickets and an exciting new luxury public hospitality option available to buy here…

Bezuidenhout and Van Rooyen will join defending champion Max Homa at the Gary Player Country Club as they contend for ‘Africa’s Major’, which forms part of the 2025 Race to Dubai in partnership with Nedbank and Sun International.

The South Africans will head to Sun City fresh from representing their country at the Paris Olympics, and both will also be making their third appearances in a tournament that last produced a home winner in 2017 with Branden Grace.

Bezuidenhout returns to Sun City with a top finish of tied fifth in the 2022 Nedbank Golf Challenge. He also returns to a Gary Player Country Club golf course where he won the South African Open in 2020 during a breakthrough season on the DP World Tour.

“I was five years old when I first came and watched the Nedbank Golf Challenge with my family. I watched the practice rounds, the players at the short game area, on the golf course – everything. It was always a dream for me to play in the Nedbank Golf Challenge,” said Bezuidenhout.

MALELANE, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 08: Christiaan Bezuidenhout during round 2 of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club on December 08, 2023 in Malelane, South Africa. (Photo by Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour)

“There are some very good names on the trophy. To be able to have a chance to put my name on there is always a very special opportunity.”

Van Rooyen’s best performance to date in the Nedbank Golf Challenge is tied 30th in 2019, and he returns as a two-time winner on the PGA Tour.

“It’s always a privilege to be able to compete in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in front of my home fans and in a tournament that has such a proud history and which means so much to us as South African golfers,” said Van Rooyen.

One of the additions to this year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge is a new luxury public Hospitali-TEE Lounge option.

Fans can take their Nedbank Golf Challenge a step beyond the normal day visitor experience and book to watch the tournament in style in a brand new hospitality lounge located close to the Public Village and offering an air-conditioned facility with indoor and outdoor seating, a live feed of the golf, and catering throughout the day.

The package fee will include an official entrance ticket to the Nedbank Golf Challenge, accreditation for exclusive access to the Hospitali-TEE Lounge, a premium buffet including breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks, a fully stocked open bar, an all-day coffee station, a live television feed of the golf, daily live entertainment, a daily player autograph opportunity, a sunscreen station, daily prizes and competitions, and official Nedbank Golf Challenge merchandise. To book click here…

The Nedbank Golf Challenge has been a highlight of the South African sporting calendar since its first edition in 1981 and is held in honour of South African sporting legend and nine-time Major champion Gary Player, who has been associated with the event since it’s inauguration more than 40 years ago.

Last year Homa joined a glittering list of Nedbank Golf Challenge winners as he became the first American winner since Jim Furyk triumphed in back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006.

European Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood enjoyed wins in 2019 and 2022, joining stars such as South African golfing icon Ernie Els – a three-time winner – the legendary Seve Ballesteros and Major champions Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Sir Nick Faldo, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman and Danny Willett.

 

About the DP World Tour

The DP World Tour is the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group.

Our 2024 global schedule features a minimum of 44 tournaments in 24 different countries across three distinct phases of the season: five ‘Global Swings’ from November 2023 to August 2024; the ‘Back 9’ from September 2024 to October 2024; and the ‘DP World Tour Play-Offs’, comprising two consecutive Rolex Series events in November 2024.

Overall, the 2024 season features five Rolex Series events – the premium category of events on the DP World Tour – and four Major Championships, all of which count towards the Race to Dubai Rankings in partnership with Rolex, the Tour’s season-long competition which concludes at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

DP World, the leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, has been the title partner of the DP World Tour since the start of the 2022 season, the Tour’s 50th season following its formation in 1972.

About the European Tour group

The European Tour group is the overarching corporate brand which administers: the DP World Tour, the Challenge Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, along with the PGA of America, is the Managing Partner of golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup.

Established in 1972, the European Tour group is committed to ‘Driving Golf Further’ through our guiding principles of being innovative, inclusive and global.

Innovative: We are driving innovation in golf through the creation of award-winning content, pioneering tournament formats and the use of the latest technology and inventive fan engagement. We are committed to attracting new audiences whilst respecting the tradition of our sport.

Inclusive: We are committed to include all who share a love for the game of golf. We are passionate about a closer collaboration with the women’s game, golf for the disabled and promoting the many physical and mental health benefits of playing golf.

Global: Since 1972, players from 38 different countries have won tournaments on our main Tour, while our live broadcast reaches more than 490 million homes in more than 150 countries every week, generating in excess of 2,200 global broadcast hours for each event. We also enjoy the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with DP World, Rolex, BMW, Emirates, Fortinet and Hilton as Official Partners.

The European Tour group has Strategic Alliances with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia. Those Strategic Alliances, combined with partnerships with the China Golf Association (CGA), Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India, provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group.

We ensure we have a positive long-term impact on the courses, countries and the communities we visit through ‘Golf for Good’, the umbrella name for the European Tour group’s commitment to ‘Driving Golf Further’ in an environmentally and socially sustainable way.

 

Author: Michael Vlismas

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