Denis Hutchinson receives honorary life Sunshine Tour membership – Golf News
Denis Hutchinson, affectionately known as ‘Hutchie’, has been awarded with the honorary life-time membership of the Sunshine Tour because of his great contributions to the sport of golf.
Normally, the award is given to South African players who register golf’s major title wins in their careers.
However, Hutchie was given the award for his win in the South African Open in 1959 as an amateur.
He is the last man in the history of the event to win as an amateur. Other wins of his career include one each in South African PGA Championship and French Open, and three victories in the Dunlop South African Masters.
Apart from his career, he has also contributed by commentating for different TV channels.
Currently, he works at the South African sports channel, SuperSport, and covers different European Tour events for different broadcasters.
The Sunshine Tour’s Executive Director, Selwyn Nathan, announced his name to be included in the life membership category at Hutchie’s 80th birthday ceremony at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.
He said that the Sunshine Tour officials realise his dedication and believe that the honorary membership is the best way to recognise his life-long passion for the game.
“The chairman and the members of the board of the Sunshine Tour agreed that ‘Hutchie’ has made such a significant contribution to the sport and to the well-being of the tour, that honorary life membership was an entirely appropriate way of recognising his
contributions,” said Nathan.
This is not the first time that Hutchie is getting such a prestigious award. Earlier in his life, he was awarded with Life President of the PGA of South Africa.
Moreover, he was named as a Master Professional by the PGA of South Africa in 2008 because of his immense contributions to the sport.
Hutchie looked happy after being honoured with the life-time membership. He said that he was lucky to be a part of the Sunshine Tour throughout his career.
It had always been a good experience for him to be a part of the tour and play against the best players from South Africa.
Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel were the other two players who received the honorary membership from the Sunshine Tour.
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