A strong field of South African stars will line up at this year’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club from 28 November to 1 December looking to win back the coveted trophy.
Erik van Rooyen and Justin Harding will start alongside former champions Brandon Stone (2016 champion), Garth Mulroy (2011 champion) and Richard Sterne (2008 champion).
Van Rooyen and Harding are both ready to land another big win at the end of a breakthrough year for both on the European Tour. The former, now 50th in the latest world rankings claimed his maiden European Tour victory in the Scandinavian Invitation, while Harding broke through with a victory in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
South Africa’s Zander Lombard, fresh off contending for the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player, rookie professional Wilco Nienaber and Jayden Schaper, the South African Stroke Play champion and winner of the Junior Players Championship in the United States this year, are others to watch.
Multiple Major winner Ernie Els will feature at Leopard Creek shortly before he heads to Australia as the captain of the International Team in The Presidents Cup, and is looking to add to his success in a tournament where he’s had one victory and a second-place finish.
The former world number one won this prestigious championship in 2005.
Both Nienaber and Schaper represent the new generation of South Africa’s rising stars, with Nienaber embarking on his professional journey on the back of a glittering amateur career, and Schaper currently ranked the number one amateur in South Africa.
*This year the Alfred Dunhill Championship will also be following the lead of The Open Championship in radically reducing single-use plastic at the tournament. A new partnership with Bluewater, Refill Co and Consol, the first of its kind on the Sunshine Tour, will encourage fans and golfers to purchase Alfred Dunhill Championship-branded glass bottles at the course, or bring their own reusable bottles, which they can refill free of charge at various points on the golf course.
**Airlink is also an official partner of the Alfred Dunhill Championship this year.
Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
