Three South Africans ready to pay for Sanlam junior series
All three South African major winners have decided to join the Sanlam Junior Series to support golf in South Africa.
PGA Grand Slam winner Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, and Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen will be part of the expanded 2011 Glacier. The astral team of three, have joined a host of top South African professionals in sponsorship of one of the thirty tournaments, which will take place on a countrywide scale.
The Series kicked off in the start of the current season with 20 events, but the number will increase to 30 for the next year. Moreover, it offers an open invitation to all the members of South African Junior Golf Foundation.
The champion of each local event will make his way into the national final, which will take place in September. The final winner will get the honour of playing in the Orange Bowl Junior Invitational, which will be staged in Florida. The trip will be paid by the association.
The Big Easy (Els) was amused with the fact that the 2011 Glacier series would kick off on 5th January at Kempton Park Golf Club. This is the club where the champion grew up while hitting the fairways. The name of the first tournament has been revealed as Hettie Junior Golf Championship. Hettie is the name of veteran’s mother.
Els told the press," Its wonderful news. My mother has meant so much to me throughout my career. She is an amazing person and I would not have been where I am if it were not for her. Mothers are the driving force behind the family and it is great that the Glacier Junior Series is honouring her in this way. It's also so important that companies like Sanlam put money back into the roots of golf and keep junior golf going in South Africa".
Els has always played a great role in spreading golf in Africa and is perceived as one of the greatest supporters of South African junior golf. This is why he has sponsored another tournament in the 2011 series. Goosen gave similar comments and said that competition was equally important to spread the sport.
Els said,“This year there will be even more tournaments for our juniors to play in and that's how you improve- by playing well in a competitive environment. It is good to know that our junior golf is in a healthy state. I played a lot of amateur and junior golf and I know how important it is. That is where champions are made. So I'm proud to be a part of this series”.
The man, who conquered St Andrews, will be teeing off at Mossel Bay Golf Club in August. Louis Oosthuizen was equally delighted and said that the purpose of the whole event was to pay tribute to the parents, who supported junior golf.
The South African added that many people supported the series to motivate young golfers so that they could rise up the way the rest of the players did. Moreover, he emphasized the support of parents, which plays a very important role in grooming the kids. The veteran mentioned his own example and said that his parents travelled the whole world just to watch him play.
According to a press release James Kingston, Charl Schwartzel, Richard Sterne, Sally Little, John Bland, Jean Hugo, Hendrik Buhrmann, Thomas Aiken, Dale Hayes, Selwyn Nathan and Theo Manyama, are among the chief sponsors of the series.
The final verdict is that Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Louis Oosthuizen, have decided to sponsor an event in Sanlam Junior Series, which will start next season. The purpose of the sponsorship is to enhance the exposure of the sports in Africa.
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