19 April 2012

Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel launch major new amateur golf tournament

Submitted by: Nicholas Shepherd

Firm friends and fellow Major-winners Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel have announced the launch of a new South African amateur golf tournament, The Major Friends Challenge.

The tournament will allow amateur golfers from over 65 different golf clubs throughout the country to compete against one another for a place in a national play-off later in the year. What makes this tournament unique is that it will be played over four rounds at each participating club over the four seasons of the year.

Each club round will carry R2 000 in prizes for the top five finishers, and the seasonal winner in each province will also receive prizes.

The four rounds will be held in May, July, September and November this year, with the final play-off round to be held at prestigious Blair Atholl Golf Club, designed by Gary Player, in December.

Here the winner from each club will compete for a magnificent floating trophy designed by Uwe Koetter Jewellers. This event will be televised on SuperSport and Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel will be in attendance to mingle with the finalists and present the prize to the overall winner.

“For me, golf has always been as much about friendship as it is about competition,” commented Louis Oosthuizen, who has just added to his outstanding run of recent form by winning the Malaysian Open.

"Golf has given me so much,” Charl Shwartzel chipped in. “I'm very excited about this brilliant new way to give something back."

Proceeds from the tournament will go to three foundations devoted to the development of golf in this country: the Louis Oosthuizen Golf Academy, The Charl Schwartzel Trust and The South African Golf Development Board.

This significant addition to amateur golf in South Africa has been approved by the South African Golf Association (in terms of Rule 4-2 g SAGA /02/12), and proudly brought to the golfing public of South Africa by The Pro Shop.

Additional sponsors include Nike Golf, Ping, Golf Digest, Uwe Koetter Jewellers, &Beyond, 1Time Airlines, Anthonij Rupert Wines and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Players may register for the tournament on the Major Friends official website www.majorfriends.co.za

Registration closes at midnight on 30 April 2012.

For more information, please contact Linky Malan on 082 497 8893 or email her: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Sports Range