- Nelson Mandela Invitational
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The Nelson Mandela Invitational was a charity golf tournament conceptualised by Marc Player, CEO of Black Knight International, which took place annually in South Africa from 2000 until 2006. It was named in honor of former South African President Nelson Mandela, and hosted by South Africa's most successful professional golfer Gary Player. Player and Mandela appeared at the event almost every year to accept proceeds on behalf of the Children's Fund and the Player Foundation who were equal beneficiaries.
The field was made up of eight teams of four, each consisting of a senior professional, a regular tour professional, a celebrity and a businessman. The teams competed for the Alliance Medal, in which the best two scores of the four players counted on each hole. From 2002, a second better-ball competition for the professionals was staged, with the best score of the two counting on each hole.
Virtually all of South Africa's top players have taken part including Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Rory Sabbatini, Trevor Immelman, as well as some well known players from overseas, such as Jack Nicklaus, Bob Charles, Darren Clarke, Angel Cabrera, Sam Torrance and Lee Westwood. Some of the professionals have been women, for example, Catrin Nilsmark, Sandra Gal, Sally Little and Ashleigh Simon. The celebrities have also included a mixture of South Africans and overseas names like Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Lineker, Nigel Mansell, Frankie Fredericks and Kapil Dev. The event raised over 25 million South African rand. There is prize money for the professionals, but it is modest by the standards of professional golf, and in general it has also been donated it to charities.
The event came to a close just prior to the 2007 edition, following the withdrawal of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund citing unsubstantiated concerns over Gary Player's involvement with the design of a golf course in Burma. It has since continued as the Gary Player Invitational.[1]
Both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu subsequently accepted Gary Player's position and statement on Burma and requested that the event continue, however the Children's Fund CEO refused to do so and thus forfeited on the name and future charitable funds raised through the tournament.
However, the event being owned by Black Knight International, was kept alive with the South African leg of the Gary Player Invitational series of charity events, which adopted the same format from 2008, with the 2007 winners being retrospectively classified in the Alliance and Betterball medals.
In 2009 it raised a record R5.2 million and in 2010 the event celebrates Fancourt Links courses 10th anniversary. All funds are distributed amongst several underprivileged children's charities including The Gary Player Foundation.
Contents
Winners
Alliance Medal (pro am)
Gary Player Invitational
Year Winners 2010 John Cook, Sergio García, Sinead Kenny, Dwight Yorke 2009 Thomas Aiken, Vincent Tshabalala, DJ Spoony, Abdullah Al Naboodah 2008 Retief Goosen, Costantino Rocca, Ines Sastre, Alan Pearson 2007 Luke Donald, Sally Little, Alex Maditsi, Marc Player Nelson Mandela Invitational
Year Winners 2006 Sandy Lyle, Omar Sandys, Ashleigh Simon, David Lyons 2005 Gary Player, Trevor Immelman, Ahmad Rashād, Alex Maditsi 2004 Lee Westwood, Simon Hobday, Inés Sastre, Doug Jackson 2003 Lee Westwood, Simon Hobday, Mark Boucher, Carl Ware 2002 Hugh Baiocchi, Deane Pappas, Gary Lineker, Dave King 2001 Simon Hobday, Martin Maritz, Nick Mallet, Doug Jackson 2000 Gary Player, Don Gammon, Julius Erving, Dave King Betterball Medal (professionals)
Gary Player Invitational
Year Winners 2010 John Cook and Sergio García 2009 Ángel Cabrera and Tony Johnstone 2008 Bobby Lincoln and Garth Mulroy 2007 Sally Little and Luke Donald Nelson Mandela Invitational
Year Winners 2006 Bobby Lincoln and Retief Goosen 2005 Vincent Tshabalala and Tim Clark 2004 Vincent Tshabalala and Ernie Els 2003 Lee Westwood and Simon Hobday 2002 Hugh Baiocchi and Deane Pappas 2001 Simon Hobday and Martin Maritz 2000 Retief Goosen and Allan Henning References
External links
- Gary Player Invitational – South Africa (Past Results)
Sunshine Tour events Tournaments in playing order Africa Open (E) · Joburg Open (E) · Africom Zimbabwe Open · Dimension Data Pro-Am · Telkom PGA Championship · MTC Namibia PGA Championship · Investec Royal Swazi Open · Nashua Golf Challenge · Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Pretoria) · Lombard Insurance Classic · Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Arabella) · Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Simola) · Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Wild Coast) · Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour (Sishen) · Telkom PGA Pro-Am · Northern Cape Classic · Vodacom Origins of Golf Tour Final · Platinum Classic · KMC Zambia Open · Suncoast Classic · BMG Classic · Nashua Masters · Nedbank Affinity Cup · Alfred Dunhill Championship (E) · South African Open (E) · Nedbank Golf Challenge · Gary Player Invitational
(E) - co-sanctioned by the European Tour.Categories:- Golf tournaments in South Africa
- Unofficial money golf tournaments
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