Three of South Africa’s most dominant young players will make the South African Open Championship at Pearl Valley Golf Estates this December their next major focus, with each seeking to cap a solid season with a victory in the second oldest Open in golf.
Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and Thomas Aiken will return to South Africa at the end of a 2009 in which they established themselves as amongst the most consistent performers on the European Tour.
Schwartzel, a winner of three European Tour titles and only the second player to win three consecutive Sunshine Tour Order of Merit titles between 2004 and 2007, returns with seven top-tens on the Tour this season and just under one million euro in prize money.
His record in the South African Open also suggests he is not far off from adding his name to the illustrious list of past champions.
After signing off his amateur career by claiming the Freddie Tait trophy for the leading amateur in the 2002 South African Open, Schwartzel finished tied third at Erinvale Golf Club in the 2003 Championship, tied second at Durban Country Club in 2005, and 10th at Humewood Golf Club in 2006.
“I'm in good form at the moment. The swing feels good and I’m ready to go," said Schwartzel.
Oosthuizen, with five victories on the Sunshine Tour, has yet to make his breakthrough on the European Tour. But he came close in 2009, claiming successive runners-up finishes in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and the Qatar Masters early this year, and following these with successive finishes of tied seventh in the Dubai Desert Classic and the Malaysian Open.
His record in the South African Open includes a finish of tied fifth at Humewood in 2006, and more notably a third place at Pearl Valley Golf Estates in 2007.
"You don’t want to think too much about that first win in Europe, but at the same time you also can’t not think about it," said Oosthuizen, who makes his own biltong and potjiekos at his home in England to ensure he doesn't lose his South African roots.
And Aiken heads back with seven top-tens on the European Tour this season, including a share of eighth place in the Open Championship at Turnberry.
With Schwartzel and Oosthuizen ranked within the top 100 in the world, and Aiken breaking into the top 150 this year, all three epitomise the 99th South African Open's status as the Championship “Where Legends Are Born".
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Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate will host the South African Open Championship in 2011 and 2012. The Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course at Serengeti is the first 27-hole golf course in Gauteng and was recently named “Best New Golf Course” by Golf Digest.
The 18-hole course called Masai Mara, which means “wide open plains” in the language of the Masai, has a rugged grassland and dune-scape look. One of the unique features on the course is the par-five eighth hole with its island green. The nine-hole course called Whistling Thorn has a more classic feel.
The courses were constructed in accordance with USGA specifications, with cool season grass that provides green vistas all year round. Designed as a strategic and technical masterpiece that will test today’s best players, the sunken design of the course with its wide corridors is ideal for tournament purposes and provides optimal spectator value on almost every hole.
