Limpopo Classic for Sunshine Tour
20 July 2005
South African golf is enjoying a boom, with the country's top players performing strongly around the world.
All of those players progressed from the Sunshine Tour onto other world tours, and they all still play events on the Sunshine Tour, which it continues to go from strength to strength.
Evidence of this is the promotion of a new tournament, the Limpopo Classic, from the winter swing of the Tour to the season-opening event on the 2005-06 Sunshine Tour summer swing in November.
Offering a purse of R1-million, the Limpopo Classic will be hosted at the Polokwane Golf Club in Pietersburg from 17 to 20 November. It is the same venue where the long-standing event enjoyed its humble beginnings in 1989.
Four main sponsors
The Limpopo Tourism and Parks Board, Limpopo Economic Development
Enterprise and Polokwane Golf Club will join Trade and Investment Limpopo as the four main sponsors for this year's
event.
"We regard the Limpopo Classic as one of the most important opportunities in branding the Limpopo province as a preferred investment and tourism region in South Africa," said Joe Mathebula, CEO of Trade and Investment Limpopo and president of Polokwane Golf Club.
Great champions
"Over the years, the tournament has produced great champions such as James Kingston, Desvonde Botes, Marc Cayeux and Hennie Otto, a double-winner, and the timing was simply perfect for us to take the event to the next level and join the summer swing," he said.
Mathebula added that the new summer event would provide fresh impetus for the growth of professional golf in South Africa and unearth new talents in the mould of upcoming stars such as Trevor Immelman and Tim Clark, now regulars on the international golf scene.
"We hope that this new and exciting timeslot will result in more top-class players emerging from South Africa. We are committed
towards the long-term development of this event and we will put in every effort with the Sunshine Tour to make it a success."
Home to the Goose
Polokwane Golf Club has become a well-known layout both in South Africa and around the world, with two-time major champion Retief Goosen having grown up playing on its fairways.
Goosen has been instrumental in aiding golf development in Limpopo Province, most notably in founding the Goose Academy for aspiring juniors.
"The sponsors have made every effort to ensure the growth of this tournament, and it is truly a momentous occasion in the development of golf in South Africa for the Limpopo Classic to join the summer schedule," said Goosen.
"It marks a tremendous development for golf in the province that should spur greater interest in the development of the game here, and it will also promote the Limpopo province as a golf tourism destination through television exposure and media
coverage."
Delighted
Sunshine Tour commissioner John Immelman was delighted to welcome the new summer event on board, ahead of the other top tournaments such as the Dunhill Championship and SAA Open.
"Sponsorship is the lifeblood of professional sport, and through the continued commitment of all the key sponsors in the Limpopo Province, this tournament can now take its rightful place among the summer events and provide us with world-class entertainment for a considerably larger purse," said Immelman.
"Not only has the Limpopo Classic shown regular growth in prize money, it is encouraging to see how local and provincial government joins forces to form valuable networks, which will benefit the whole region.
"We are confident that the Limpopo Classic will enjoy a successful start in the new timeslot. Not only will it provide our members a wonderful opportunity to perform at the highest level on home soil, but afford our
international players the opportunity to get in on the action as well."
As the Limpopo Classic heralds the start of the summer swing, there will be a lot riding on the players to perform well if they harbour hopes of winning the Order of Merit crown.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
| 
