Former Springbok captain and manager, Morne du Plessis, joins fellow rugby legends Schalk Burger Snr and Jnr in an illustrious field for today´s official pro-am of the South African Open Championship at Pearl Valley Golf Estates.
Du Plessis teams up with defending champion Richard Sterne, while the senior Burger partners two-time Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner Darren Fichardt and son Schalk plays with Spaniard Ignacio Garrido.
The 36-team pro-am is filled with several Sunshine Tour champions, including seven-time winner Thomas Aiken, triple Order of Merit winner Charl Schwartzel and Jaco van Zyl, a three-time winner this season.
James Kingston, the 2007 SA Open champion and the winner of this year’´s Mercedes-Benz Championship, and 2009 European Tour winners Gregory Bourdy, Ross McGowan, Martin Jonzon, Rafael Cabrero-Bello and Oskar Henningsson will also be in action alongside Swede Anders Hansen, the leader of the 2009 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, and the newly-crowned Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Pablo Martin of Spain.
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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.
