Player to captain South Africa’s first Olympic golf team
Gary Player has been named captain of South Africa’s first Olympic golf team.
GARY Player has been named captain of South Africa’s first Olympic golf team that will compete at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The South African Golf Association made the announcement at the Soweto Country Club on Saturday, August 15, during a special celebration held for Player by the City of Johannesburg and Sunshine Tours.
“I am delighted to accept the captaincy and look forward to leading our top professionals on the fairways of the Rio Olympics next year. This is such a big moment for our country and for the game of golf as a whole and I am proud to be a part of this. Golf and the Olympic movement share the same core values, so this is a very big opportunity to grow the game around the world. Our goal is to earn South Africa its first Olympic gold medal in a sport that has always done this country proud,” said Player. He will be turning 80 in November and will celebrate the 50th anniversary of him completing the Grand Slam in the 1965 US Open.
Player, a winner of more than 165 tournaments worldwide, is the only person to complete the career Grand Slam on both the regular and senior tours amidst his 18 major championships. 63 years as a professional golfer has given Player extensive experience in team competition as he captained the international team for the Presidents Cup on three occasions and also made several appearances for South Africa in the World Cup of Golf.
“What an incentive this is for South Africans to play well and earn a place in the Rio line-up,” he said. He paid tribute to, Soweto stalwarts Vincent Tshabalala, the 1976 French Open champion whose career coincided with his own, Theo Manyama, now one of the world’s top rules officials, and struggle veteran and self-confessed “golf nut” Andrew Mlangeni.
“What else can I still do at my age, I think I have achieved as much as possible, but being selected as the SA captain I think this is the cherry on the cake,” he said.
The ‘Black Knight’ then proceeded to the par-3 17th hole, a tricky 198m hole with a gusty wind, where he encouraged and played the hole alongside each fourball that passed through.
“Great swing,” he said to 28-year-old Bella Modisha, the first woman to coach professionally at the Gary Player Golf Experience at the World of Golf. Her fourball included club captain David Dikobe, club champion Jonas Molefi and 19-year-old professional golfer Godfrey Mphaga who campaigns on the IGT and Big Easy Tours.
