WeeklySA_AdminNEW CHAPTER: PGA champs to tee off at St Francis Links in the Eastern Cape
NEW CHAPTER: PGA champs to tee off at St Francis Links in the Eastern Cape
By Pule Mokhine
South Africa PGA Championship, the country’s second oldest professional golf tournament, will usher in a new chapter its illustrious history.
This will come about when the event’s 86th edition will be played at the St Francis Links in Francis Bay, Eastern Cape from November 4-7. This will be for the first time that this picturesque links course will host the flagship contest of the PGA of SA. The showdown will come four weeks before the newly revamped SA Open Championship tees off at Gray Player Country at Sun City from December 2-5.
The PGA Championship – established in 1956 – ranks as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the Sunshine Tour calendar, hence the contest will enjoy massive support when it is played at the pristine course for a change. The tournament derives a great deal of respect from golf enthusiasts because it is regarded as a major in SA golf, just like its US counterpart the PGA Championship, features the who’s who of the world of golf. The Championship is one of the four majors. The others are The Masters, US Open and The Open Championship. The latter is widely referred to as the British Open.
Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour, said this week that the SA PGA Championship had a proud history and occupies a “premier place on our Sunshine Tour schedule”.
“The work done by the PGA of SA is vital in terms of the general health of SA golf and growing the game around the country. It’s a privilege for us as the Sunshine Tour to see this world-class event being showcased at a venue like St Francis Links,” said Abt
Last year’s contest called the Eye of Africa PGA Championship played at Eikenhof, a suburb of Johannesburg, was won by South Africa’s Darren Fichardt who beat Chilean Matia Calderon by a score of -20 in a final-round playoff.
Fichardt, who campaigns in the European and Sunshine tours, acquitted himself well last year by also lifting the Betway Championship trophy. This was the first event on the Sunshine Tour after the Covid -19 hiatus. He shot the final-round score of 64 to beat Ulricht van den Berg by a single shot. To date, Fichardt has recorded 23 victories as a pro. He won five times in Europe and lifted 18 trophies on home soil.
So it remains to be seen if he will be good enough to show his mettle by proving he has what it takes to make it two wins in a row.
But as is the norm in golf, competition will be stiff, with the 2019 winner Louis de Jager raring to demonstrate his swinging prowess. He edged out Trevor Fischer Jnr by a score of -21 to lift the silverware.
Legendary Gary Player has won the Championship title a record 12 times in its history, his first victory coming in 1956.
