A top-class tournament that has launched many major golfing careers
HE Joburg Open has attracted some of the biggest names in Sunshine and European Tour golf history and has also provided an excellent launchpad for many talented golfers.
Some of the most prominent names that have broken through to the elite leagues after first gaining prominence at the Joburg Open are Charl Schwartzel, Haydn Porteous and Brandon Grace. And added to this list are an increasing number of talented golfers from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, who are showing they are ready to enter the big time after making their mark at the Joburg Open.
Talented Sowetan Sipho Bujela and Makhetha Mazibuko, who hails from Bloemfontein and finished second at the recent Eye of Africa PGA Championship, are just two of the new faces who have seized the opportunity to stake their claim on the game, with the 26-yearold Bujela wholeheartedly embracing the broader role his participation in the Joburg Open presents.
“I represented all the young amateurs in Soweto who wish to be professional golfers one day,” Bujela said.
This is a sentiment echoed by fellow professional Brandon Stone who called Bujela, Mazibuko and other aspirant golfers like them “an inspiration”.
“What Makhetha Mazibuko did at the PGA Championship was good, but it won’t end there. As the years progress you’re going to see more black golfers competing, not just from South Africa,” Stone said.
The two are looking at the likes of 2016 Joburg Open champion, Porteous, who has been a force to be reckoned with since his first professional teeoff. The 22-year-old Porteous, who turned professional in 2013, claimed the Joburg Open title last year, his first Sunshine tour win, beating the likes of Ernie Els, Richard Sterne and George Coetzee.
Since winning the Joburg Open back to back in 2010 and 2011, Schwartzel has gone on to craft quite a prestigious career, that includes a Masters in 2011, which he won by two strokes to become the third South African winner of the event (after Gary Player and Trevor Immelman).
The Joburg Open has launched many spectacular new careers and cemented older ones. Now after its 11th year, the tournament has continued to attract some of the most promising golf players around the world and the City of Joburg is honoured to play host to their ambitions.