THE International Federation of PGA Tours, which represents all the top professional golf tours in the world, on Saturday confirmed that the Tournament of Hope would be held in South Africa in 2013 under the auspices of the Sunshine Tour – a massive scoop and honour for golf in this country.
It will carry a purse of $8,5-million – which translates to a mind-blowing R64-million – and be held from November 28 to December 1, the same week reserved for the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City.
Although not part of the World Golf Championship series, the Tournament of Hope will have exactly the same status as the four WGC events currently held each year. It will be a major international competition for the world’s best professional golfers, with eligibility similar to that of the WGC events, based primarily on the world rankings, and supplemented by the individual moneylists and orders of merit of the various tours that make up the International Federation of PGA Tours. Because it is so high profile, it will almost guarantee that most if not all of the world’s top golfers will be in the line-up. Possibly the top 50, 60 or 70 but the exact numbers still have to be decided.
It has already been confirmed that the Tournament of Hope will count towards the European Tour’s 2014 Race to Dubai, and – in all probability – the 2014 PGA Tour Order of Merit. In fact, the Tournament of Hope, even though held at the end of 2013, could serve as the opening event on the 2014 PGA Tour. That in itself would be a huge feather in South Africa’s golfing cap.
The tournament will be held here for at least five years, and – as the name suggests – the Sunshine Tour and partner promoter SAIL Rights Commercialisation (Pty) Ltd will use it to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Africa and globally, and to generate funds for that initiative.
“Marathons, walkathons, gala fund-raising dinners and a lot of other projects are in the planning stage to serve this end,” said the Sunshine Tour’s Duncan Cruickshank.
The venue for the Tournament of Hope is still to be announced, but the fact that it shares the same date as the Nedbank Golf Challenge raises the question as to what will happen to the Sun City showpiece. It could be moved to another date but there is already speculation – only speculation mind you – that discussions may result in Nedbank considering sponsoring the Tournament of Hope and fundamentally changing the format of Africa’s Major from a 12-man line-up to a multi-player affair.
The International Federation of PGA Tours was formed in 1996 by golf’s five world governing bodies – the European Tour, Japan Tour, PGA Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour.
South Africa is already firmly on the world golf map, staging four big-money European Tour events this year alone. The country has regularly produced Major champions, most recently Louis Oosthuizen in the 2010 British Open and Charl Schwartzel in the Masters last year making him the defending champion this April. Currently, South Africa have nine players in the top 100 in the world rankings, more than any other country except the United States.
“For a nation with relatively few golfers compared to other nations, we fight well above our weight in world terms,” says Sunshine Tour commissioner Selwyn Nathan.
How true and in a very real sense, then, The Tournament of Hope is a reward then for South Africa’s ongoing contribution and major impact in world golf. – Sunday Independent