For the second time in three weeks Sun City’s two Gary Player-designed golf courses will be in the spotlight as the hosts of professional tournaments, with the Nedbank Golf Challenge now followed by the Gary Player Invitational presented by Coca-Cola.
This week the Lost City Golf Course will host the South African leg of the global Gary Player Invitational series. The tournament starts on Friday with the official pro-am followed by the main 36-hole tournament on Saturday and Sunday.
Top professionals such as Grand Slam champion Player; European Ryder Cup captain and 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke; European Tour winners Brandon Stone and Ignacio Garrido; World Golf Hall of Famer Laura Davies; Ladies European Tour stars Caroline Martens, Victoria Elizabeth and Emma Cabrera Bello; Springbok rugby great Chester Williams; renowned footballers Ruud Gullit, Robbie Fowler, Mark Fish, and Matthew Booth; actor and entrepreneur Masego “Maps” Maponyane; and a host of influential business leaders all will look to claim to Baobab trophy at the Lost City Golf Course.
It will be another apt showcase of Sun City’s two golf courses that were built by Player in the 1980s and which remain landmarks of South African and world golf.
The Gary Player Country Club received high praise from the European Tour’s professionals during the Nedbank Golf Challenge, hosted by Gary Player, and again proved why it is consistently voted as one of the top golf courses in Africa by the annual World Golf Awards, Golf Digest and Golf Magazine, among others.
“The greens superintendent team did a marvelous job,” said Player. “In this part of the world, we have very little water so getting the course in top form for such a big event can be a monumental task.
“Many players came up to tell me this was the best condition they had ever seen the Gary Player Country Club. We are very proud of all the hard work that went into the Nedbank Golf Challenge as you cannot host a world-class event without having the course in top shape.”
The Lost City Golf Course presents a different challenge, and in the opinion of Sun City Director of Golf Ken Payet, it is the perfect host of Player’s annual charity tournament.
“Mr. Player has always had a soft spot for the Lost City Golf Course and it’s great that he hosts the Gary Player Invitational there because it gives the golf course the exposure that it deserves. It’s a phenomenal golf course,” Payet said.
“We have two spectacular golf courses at Sun City. From an experience point of view, it allows us as a team here to really blow people away and make sure they go away and tell their friends and family and come back for more.”
Gary Player Design is a global leader in golf course design, marketing and real estate planning services. Through the years, Gary Player and his team have executed a portfolio of more than 400 projects in 38 countries on five continents. In the end, the company’s success is driven by the proven ability to add substantial value to real estate and resort properties all while leave behind a gift to nature.
The mission of Gary Player Design is to conduct business in the same manner in which Gary Player has conducted himself as a golfer and gentleman during his 64-year career as a professional golfer. Gary Player Design’s services revolve around building long-term mutually rewarding relationships with their clients by displaying integrity and credibility in a business setting. From project conceptualization through planning, design, construction, marketing and opening, a proactive role is taken in providing experienced solutions throughout the intricate development process.
For more information about Gary Player Design, course awards and project listings, please visit www.garyplayerdesign.com.
CONTACT
Bo Wood
Black Knight International
+1 864 477 2720
b.wood@garyplayer.com
ABOUT GARY PLAYER DESIGN
Established in the early 1980s by Marc Player and widely recognized as the most successful international golf course architectural firm in the world, Gary Player Design has branded more than 400 layouts with the mark of a champion. Over its existence, the firm has worked on five continents and in more than 38 countries, and prides itself on taking the Black Knight’s design experience to emerging markets to help develop the game of golf globally.
Player’s vast experience in the business coupled with more than 60 years of experience as a professional golfer have afforded him a unique understanding of the needs of the average golfer; the objectives of the developer, and the concerns of the environment. The cornerstone of our design approach is to create playable and memorable golf courses within the constraints of a given site, while being ultra-sensitive to the surrounding environment – particularly in the area of water conservation.
The result is a portfolio of award-winning and environmentally-recognized courses around the world. The Design Company presently has more than 30 active projects around the world in Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the USA.
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