The City of Johannesburg has once again proven its abilities to host some of the biggest sporting events after successfully hosting the SA Open, a tri-sanctioned event by the Sunshine Tour, European Tour and Asian Tour from 06 – 09 December 2018.
A strong field of 240 European Tour, Asian Tour and Sunshine Tour professionals teed off at the Randpark Golf Course on Thursday 06 December 2018.
After a solid display of the best golfing talent in the world, the 36-year-old South African Louis Oosthuizen closed with a four-under-par 67 to emerge as the 2018 SA Open champion and clinch the coveted title.
The Sunshine Tour, in partnership with GolfRSA, the City of Johannesburg, the European Tour and Asian Tour, had earlier this year announced a decision to merge Joburg Open and South Africa Open to create an even greater stage for the SA Open. The South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg was played on Randpark’s two championship golf courses, Firethorn and Bushwillow, and the field included Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel and former champion Brandon Stone, who competed for R17.5 million in prize money.
The Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Councillor Herman Mashaba, expressed his delight and said the City continues to position itself at the forefront of world golf through its hosting of a major championship such as the South African Open.
As part of the tournament, a coaching clinic was held at the Randpark Golf Club’s Driving Range where children of Soweto, Alexandra and surrounding areas interacted and learnt a lot from professionals from the Tours.
“As the City of Johannesburg, we believe in giving back to the community and the coaching clinics hosted prior to the tournament are one way of ensuring that professional golfers impart their knowledge to youngsters.” said Bongi Mokaba, the City of Joburg’s Director of Events Management.
The South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg occupies a premier place as one of the first tournaments on the European Tour’s new season. The championship’s prime positioning makes it a very attractive tournament as it showcases the City of Johannesburg to millions of viewers worldwide. It was the third time in its history that the South African Open was played at Randpark. It was first played at the venue in 1995 when Retief Goosen beat Ernie Els by five strokes, and then again in 2000 when Swede Mathias Grönberg took the title.
Hosting a successful SA Open has positioned Johannesburg as a vibrant, diverse and welcoming City that will offer visitors an unrivalled choice of destinations, activities and experiences.
The City will continues to leverage on strategic events to position Johannesburg as a destination of choice for all categories of visitors, especially in the business and leisure sectors.
