(Abu Dhabi, UAE): Twenty leading golf professionals, male and female, will join sporting icon, Gary Player, to compete in this week’s 2016 Gary Player Invitational at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club in Abu Dhabi hosted in partnership with Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
The unique make-up of professionals, across multiple tours, nationalities and age brackets, along with sporting celebrities and invited business guests is one of the many distinguishing factors of this world-leading charity golf tournament.
“We have worked tirelessly for over 30 years now to stage special and memorable events around the world,” said Tournament Host, Gary Player. “The GPI series has grown to include new events in the UAE and Japan this year, and with the support of trusted partners such as Abu Dhabi Sports Council we are able to deliver world-class golf experiences and in doing so create powerful fundraising platforms. This event will be the first of a long and successful journey here in Abu Dhabi.”
Trevor Immelman added: “I’ve played in a couple of Gary Player Invitational events in SA and had the privilege of receiving valuable information and support from Mr. Player. He is an inspiration to us all, not just in terms of his golf game but also the good he’s done for so many charity causes around the world. I’m looking forward to the Gary Player Invitational in Abu Dhabi and hopefully to attend many more events in the future.”
Another three-time European Tour winner and rising star, Andy Sullivan said: “I’ve heard so much about the Gary Player Invitational event series and can’t wait to finally play at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club. We play a lot of tournament golf and attend many Pro-Am events but this one is really special. Off the back of starting my season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship it will be great to join so many peers back in Abu Dhabi and support Mr. Player.”
On behalf of the female professionals, Ladies European Tour star Caroline Martens had this to add: “As an LET professional it’s great to join a golfing legend and top male professionals for this union of golf and giving. The opportunity to use golf as a catalyst for great charity causes is perhaps the most rewarding aspect of our chosen career. I was also lucky enough to take part in a special ladies golf clinic at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club yesterday, which was a thrill to help broaden the appeal of this unique event to include more ladies golfers here in Abu Dhabi.
The inaugural Gary Player Invitational in Abu Dhabi is part of the world-leading Gary Player Invitational charity golf event series, which has raised more than $62million for charity worldwide. The Gary Player Invitational UAE is under the Patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and hosted in partnership with Abu Dhabi Sports Council. The event is sponsored by: TDIC, Rolex, SAP, Callaway, Bell Helicopter, Spinneys, Sport 360, Golf Digest, Arabian Radio Network, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club and Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas.
-ENDS-
CONTACT
David Collins – Wasserman Media Group (on behalf of BKI)
dcollins@wmgllc.com
+971 55 568 9913
Meagan Fester – Black Knight International
meagan@garyplayer.co.za
+27 21 448 7777
Bo Wood – Black Knight International
b.wood@garyplayer.com
+ 1 864 477 2720
ABOUT ABU DHABI SPORTS COUNCIL
ADSC was established in 2006 by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
ADSC is aligned to the emirate’s leadership vision to develop sport and youth activities. The Council promotes an effective, emirate-wide sports calendar that stimulates the desire to participate in quality sports among all Abu Dhabi residents and helps the talented and motivated reach their sporting potential.
The Council also hosts and supports the staging of international world-class sporting events, including the annual Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, the Formula 1TM Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the ITU World Triathlon Series, the Abu Dhabi Invitational, the Gary Player Invitational, the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Final, the Red Bull Air Race, the hosting of the Volvo Ocean Race round-the-world sailing epic, the Abu Dhabi Cycling Tour and the 2015 Nomura Cup.
We at ADSC firmly believe that sporting events deliver a host of benefits for the emirate and its residents. These span improved health and wellness, the building of community spirit, the discovering of local talent and the delivery of international exposure of the emirate as a world-class sporting events hub.
Whether it is land, sea or air, we have sport covered.
ABOUT BLACK KNIGHT INTERNATIONAL
Established in 1983 by Marc Player, Black Knight International is a global holding company for The Player Group and the constantly expanding family of Gary Player® brands. With a powerful presence in North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Black Knight is a multicultural and multilingual company offering branded services for the leisure and real estate industries. This rapidly growing firm is diverse and infused with the same tenaciousness and drive as Gary Player, world renowned iconic golfer. The holding company divisions include: Gary Player Design, Player Real Estate, Black Knight Enterprises, Black Knight Solutions, Black Knight Capital, Gary Player Academies, and The Player Foundation.
ABOUT THE PLAYER FOUNDATION
The Player Foundation was established in 1983 by Marc Player. What began as an effort to provide education, nutrition, medical care and athletic activities, for a small community of disadvantaged children living on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa has now blossomed into an organization that circles the globe bringing aid to underprivileged children and impoverished communities.
The Foundation is funded primarily by six Gary Player Invitational events presented through Black Knight International. Pairing celebrities and professional golfers from the PGA and Champions Tours with businessmen and international sports figures, the annual tournaments are staged in the United States, China, Europe and South Africa. The proceeds of these tournaments and other special events provide funding for an ever- expanding number of institutions around the world, including the Blair Atholl Schools in South Africa, the Pleasant City Elementary School in Palm Beach, the Masizame in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, and AIDS infected children in Baoshan, a drug-infested city located on the China-Burma border. Since its establishment, The Player Foundation has donated more than $60 million to the support of children’s charities, the betterment of impoverished communities and the expansion of educational opportunities throughout the world.
Gary Player, acknowledged as a world-class humanitarian, believes that the strength of our future depends upon the abilities of our children. “I have found that the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others does not thrust itself upon us,” Player says, “But we do not need to look hard for it either. When you spot the chance to give back to the world, act on it. You will have made life better, for others, and for yourself.”
The Gary Player Foundation is a non-profit 501 C (3) organization managed by Black Knight International in Palm Beach, Florida.
ABOUT THE PLAYERS AT PRESS CONFERENCE HEAD TABLE
Paul McGinley
Led Europe to a superb 16½-11½ victory in The Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014, impressing as a meticulous captain. It was the culmination of a strong education in team golf, having been one of José María Olazábal’s vice captains in the magnificent 2012 Ryder Cup victory at Medinah Country Club, and in the 2010 win under Colin Montgomerie. Has always been passionate about the team format and played in three consecutive successful Ryder Cup teams from 2002, the year he holed the winning putt. Whether it is The Ryder Cup, Seve Trophy, World Cup or Royal Trophy, he has been on a winning team for all of them. In 2009 and again in 2011 he captained Great Britain and Ireland to victory over Continental Europe in the Seve Trophy. A winner of four European Tour titles, his best campaign to date came in 2005, during which he finished runner-up three times before concluding a wonderful year with a victory in the Volvo Masters. Might have had a career in Gaelic football but a broken knee cap when he was 19 put paid to that dream, and he had a sixth knee operation towards the end of 2009. Played in the 1991 Walker Cup – beating Phil Mickelson and Bob May alongside Liam White – and gained his European Tour card on his first visit to the Qualifying School later the same year. Continues to help shape the European Tour as a member of the Tournament Committee.
Interesting fact – Paul is married to former Ladies European Tour professional Alison, and was a very proficient Gaelic footballer in his teens, whose original ambition was to play in an All-Ireland final.
Melissa Reid
In 2015, Melissa won her fifth LET title, the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open for the second time in her career and finished runner-up on the season-long LET Order of Merit. In 2012, she claimed her fourth LET title at the Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters in an emotional finale to her first event back after she lost her mother, Joy, in a tragic road accident in Germany four weeks previously. In 2011, Melissa recorded two wins in the Deloitte Dutch Ladies Open at Broekpolder GC and the Open de Espana. She was a first-time member of the European Solheim Cup team having earned her place on the team by leading the Ladies European Tour’s Solheim Cup points’ list. In 2010, broke through with her first victory as a professional at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open. In 2008 Melissa was awarded the Ryder Cup Wales Rookie of the Year, in association with the Bill Johnson Trophy. She resides in Loughborough, England, and started playing golf at the age of 11.
Interesting fact – Melissa’s interests include snowboarding, playing football, supporting Derby County, trial-biking and cooking.
Trevor Immelman
Became only the second South African, after Mr. Player, to win the Masters Tournament after his courageous wire-to-wire victory at Augusta National in April 2008. The following season was blighted by injury, though, with tendinitis in his left elbow and wrist keeping him out of the U.S. Open, the Open Championship and the US PGA Championship after a promising performance in the first Major of 2009 – The Masters – where he finished tied 20th. Won three titles on the European Tour before making his US PGA Tour breakthrough with victory in the 2006 Cialis Western Open. That helped him finish seventh on the Money List to become the first rookie since Jerry Pate (1976) to finish in the top ten as he claimed Rookie of the Year honours. Followed in the footsteps of Mr. Player in January 2004 when he became the first golfer since the legendary Black Knight in 1976-77 to successfully defend the South African Open Championship. The victory a year earlier had proved a pivotal moment in his career when he won his maiden European Tour title in emotional circumstances in front of friends and family at his home Erinvale Golf Club in the Western Cape, the place where he learned to play the game.
Interesting fact – Trevor was accorded Honorary Life Membership of the European Tour in 2008.
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