The City of Johannesburg is the proud new host of the South African Open, and one of the most historic national opens in golf will now be played at Randpark Golf Club from 6 to 9 December 2018.
The Sunshine Tour announced on Monday that a decision was taken in partnership with GolfRSA, the City of Johannesburg, the European Tour and Asian Tour to create an even greater stage for the South African Open by merging it with the Joburg Open.
The South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg will be played on Randpark’s two championship golf courses, Firethorn and Bushwillow, and will feature a field of 240 professionals – including Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel and former champion Brandon Stone – competing for a minimum of R17.5 million in prize money.
The championship will, for the first time in its history, be a tri-sanctioned championship between the Sunshine Tour, European Tour and Asian Tour, and it will retain the international qualifying opportunities of the Joburg Open.
The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Councillor Herman Mashaba, said he was delighted that the City will continue to position itself as the forefront of world golf through its hosting of a major championship such as the South African Open.
“We are extremely proud to be the new host city of the South African Open and to be able to translate the excellence of the Joburg Open into a new future for this historic championship. We look forward to continuing to showcase what Johannesburg has to offer, and to taking this message to Europe as well as Asia as we seek to use the global footprint of this tournament to benefit the residents of our city,” said Mayor Mashaba.
The announcement of the South African Open was done at the newly refurbish Soweto Country Club. The golf course has undergone a major transformation that has turned the once-neglected space into a world-class golf course with manicured greens and fairways. The newly refurbished Soweto Country Club boasts a state of the art conference centre and club house.
Soweto has a long history of producing black golfers, from pioneers such as Simon Nhlapho, Vincent Tshabalala and Theo Manyama to the younger generation of Sipho Bujela.
The world-class Soweto Country Club is well positioned to play an important role in the development of golf in the township. Mayor Mashaba said that the Soweto Country Club is a golf course that will take development seriously and that it is a dream of his that a young black golf champion will come out of Soweto.
The golf course will also make a contribution to job creation, will impact positively on real-estate prices and give the residents of Soweto a sense of pride.
The Soweto Country Club will also become the official legacy project to the South African Open. Mayor Mashaba hinted that in 2019 the South African Open two-day Pro-Am golf tournament will be played at the Soweto Country Club.
The Soweto Country Club is estimated to officially open its doors to the public in 10 weeks’ times. Golf enthusiast are advised to book their tee off as soon as possible as the golf course is already tipped to be popular with golfers.
