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Investec South African Open Championship

Tournament information
Location	Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Established	1903
Course(s)	Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate
Par	72
Length	8,233 yards (7,528 m)
Tour(s)	European Tour Asian Tour Sunshine Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$1,500,000
Month played	December
Tournament record score
Aggregate	263 Branden Grace (2020)
To par	−24 Ernie Els (2006)
Current champion
Dean Burmester
Location map
Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian EstateLocation in South AfricaShow map of South AfricaBlair Atholl Golf & Equestrian EstateLocation in GautengShow map of Gauteng

The South African Open is one of the oldest national open golf championships in the world, having first been played in 1903, and is one of the principal tournaments on the Southern-Africa-based Sunshine Tour. Since 1997 it has also been co-sanctioned by the European Tour.

History

The first formal event was organised in 1903, following a series of exhibition matches that had been held over the preceding ten years. The championship was initially contested over just 36 holes until 1908, when it was extended to become a 72-hole tournament. Although non-whites had played in the South African Open before, most notably when Papwa Sewgolum finished second in 1963, it was not until 1972 that black golfers were allowed to compete.

From 2011 until February 2020 it was held in the Johannesburg area; twice at Serengeti Golf Club, followed by five times at Glendower Golf Club, and then twice at Randpark Golf Club. In December 2020 it will move away from Johannesburg and be held at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City.

Gary Player has been the most successful player in the tournament's history, with 13 victories over four decades between 1956 and 1981. Bobby Locke won nine titles, Sid Brews won eight titles, and George Fotheringham won the event five times as did Ernie Els.

In December 2018, the event became part of the Open Qualifying Series, giving up to three non-exempt players entry into The Open Championship.

The 2021 event was scheduled to be a co-sanctioned event between the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour. However due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in place in the UK from South Africa, the event was revised as a sole-sanctioned Sunshine Tour event.

Flagship event

From 1999 to 2016, the tournament was the Sunshine Tour's flagship event for the purposes of the Official World Golf Ranking, earning a minimum of 32 OWGR points for the winner. It was replaced as the flagship event for 2017 by the Alfred Dunhill Championship before regaining its status the following year. In 2020, the Alfred Dunhill Championship once again replaced the South African Open as the tour's flagship event. In 2021, the Alfred Dunhill Championship was scheduled to be the flagship event for the second consecutive year. However due to the cancellation of the tournament, the South African Open regained its flagship event status for the first time since the January 2020 event.

Winners

#	Year	Tour(s)	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Venue	Ref.
Investec South African Open Championship
113th	2023	AFR, EUR	Dean Burmester	277	−11	3 strokes	Renato Paratore Jesper Svensson Ryan van Velzen	Blair Atholl
112th	2022	AFR, EUR	Thriston Lawrence	272	−16	1 stroke	Clément Sordet	Blair Atholl
SA Open Championship
111th	2021	AFR, EUR	Daniel van Tonder	272	−16	1 stroke	Oliver Bekker	Gary Player
South African Open
110th	2020 (Dec)	AFR, EUR	Christiaan Bezuidenhout	270	−18	5 strokes	Jamie Donaldson	Gary Player
109th	2020 (Jan)	AFR, EUR	Branden Grace	263	−21	3 strokes	Louis Oosthuizen	Randpark
2019: No tournament due to rescheduling from December to January
108th	2018 (Dec)	AFR, ASA, EUR	Louis Oosthuizen	266	−18	6 strokes	Romain Langasque	Randpark
BMW SA Open
107th	2018 (Jan)	AFR, EUR	Chris Paisley	267	−21	3 strokes	Branden Grace	Glendower
106th	2017	AFR, EUR	Graeme Storm	270	−18	Playoff	Rory McIlroy	Glendower
105th	2016	AFR, EUR	Brandon Stone	274	−14	2 strokes	Christiaan Bezuidenhout	Glendower
South African Open Championship
104th	2015	AFR, EUR	Andy Sullivan	277	−11	Playoff	Charl Schwartzel	Glendower
2014: No tournament due to rescheduling from November to January
103rd	2013	AFR, EUR	Morten Ørum Madsen	269	−19	2 strokes	Jbe' Kruger Hennie Otto	Glendower
SA Open Championship
102nd	2012	AFR, EUR	Henrik Stenson	271	−17	3 strokes	George Coetzee	Serengeti
101st	2011	AFR, EUR	Hennie Otto	274	−14	1 stroke	Bernd Wiesberger	Serengeti
South African Open Championship
100th	2010	AFR, EUR	Ernie Els (5)	263	−25	1 stroke	Retief Goosen	Durban
99th	2009	AFR, EUR	Richie Ramsay	275	−13	Playoff	Shiv Kapur	Pearl Valley
98th	2008	AFR, EUR	Richard Sterne	274	−14	Playoff	Gareth Maybin	Pearl Valley
South African Airways Open
97th	2007	AFR, EUR	James Kingston	284	−4	1 stroke	Oliver Wilson	Pearl Valley
96th	2006	AFR, EUR	Ernie Els (4)	264	−24	3 strokes	Trevor Immelman	Humewood
95th	2005 (Dec)	AFR, EUR	Retief Goosen (2)	282	−10	1 stroke	Ernie Els	Fancourt
94th	2005 (Jan)	AFR, EUR	Tim Clark (2)	273	−15	6 strokes	Grégory Havret Charl Schwartzel	Durban
93rd	2004	AFR, EUR	Trevor Immelman (2)	276	−12	3 strokes	Alastair Forsyth Steve Webster	Erinvale
92nd	2003	AFR, EUR	Trevor Immelman	274	−14	Playoff	Tim Clark	Erinvale
Bell's South African Open
91st	2002	AFR, EUR	Tim Clark	269	−19	2 strokes	Steve Webster	The Country Club
Mercedes-Benz South African Open
90th	2001	AFR, EUR	Mark McNulty (2)	280	−8	1 stroke	Justin Rose	East London
89th	2000	AFR, EUR	Mathias Grönberg	274	−14	1 stroke	Darren Fichardt Ricardo González Nick Price	Randpark
Mercedes-Benz - Vodacom South African Open
88th	1999	AFR, EUR	David Frost (2)	279	−5	1 stroke	Scott Dunlap Jeev Milkha Singh	Stellenbosch
South African Open
87th	1998	AFR, EUR	Ernie Els (3)	273	−15	3 strokes	David Frost	Durban
86th	1997	AFR, EUR	Vijay Singh	270	−18	1 stroke	Nick Price	Glendower
Phillips South African Open
85th	1996	AFR	Ernie Els (2)	275	−13	1 stroke	Brenden Pappas	Royal Cape
84th	1995	AFR	Retief Goosen	275	−13	5 strokes	Ernie Els	Randpark
1994: No tournament due to rescheduling from December to January
83rd	1993 (Dec)	AFR	Tony Johnstone (2)	267	−21	7 strokes	Ernie Els	Durban
82nd	1993 (Feb)	AFR	Clinton Whitelaw	279	−9	2 strokes	Retief Goosen	Glendower
Protea Assurance South African Open
81st	1992	AFR	Ernie Els	273	−15	3 strokes	Derek James	Houghton
80th	1991	AFR	Wayne Westner (2)	272	−16	4 strokes	Mark James Tony Johnstone	Durban
79th	1990	AFR	Trevor Dodds	285	−3	1 stroke	Hugh Royer III	Royal Cape
78th	1989	AFR	Fred Wadsworth	278	−10	1 stroke	Tom Lehman	Glendower
Southern Suns South African Open
77th	1988	AFR	Wayne Westner	275	−13	2 strokes	Ian Mosey	Durban
76th	1987	AFR	Mark McNulty	278	−10	Playoff	Fulton Allem	Mowbray
75th	1986	AFR	David Frost	275	−13	3 strokes	Tony Johnstone	Royal Johannesburg
South African Open
74th	1985	AFR	Gavan Levenson	280	−8	3 strokes	Phil Simmons	Royal Durban
73rd	1984	AFR	Tony Johnstone	274	−14	3 strokes	Fulton Allem	Houghton
72nd	1983	AFR	Charlie Bolling	278	−10	1 stroke	Tertius Claassens	Royal Cape
1982: No tournament due to rescheduling from December to January
Datsun South African Open
71st	1981	AFR	Gary Player (13)	272	−16	Playoff	John Bland Warren Humphreys	Royal Johannesburg
70th	1980	AFR	Bobby Cole (2)	279	−9	4 strokes	Mark McNulty	Durban
British Airways/Yellow Pages South African Open
69th	1979	AFR	Gary Player (12)	279	−9	1 stroke	Ian Mosey	Houghton
Yellow Pages South African Open
68th	1978	AFR	Hugh Baiocchi	285	−3	1 stroke	Gavan Levenson	Mowbray
67th	1977	AFR	Gary Player (11)	273	−15	3 strokes	Bobby Cole Dale Hayes	Royal Johannesburg
66th	1976 (Nov)	AFR	Gary Player (10)	280	−8	6 strokes	David Suddards (a) Bobby Verwey	Durban
BP South African Open
65th	1976 (Jan)	AFR	Dale Hayes	287	−1	Playoff	John Fourie	Houghton
64th	1975	AFR	Gary Player (9)	278	−10	6 strokes	Allan Henning	Mowbray
South African Open
63rd	1974	AFR	Bobby Cole	272	−16	4 strokes	Allan Henning	Royal Johannesburg
BP South African Open
62nd	1973	AFR	Bob Charles	282	−6	3 strokes	Vin Baker Bobby Cole Graham Marsh	Durban
South African Open
61st	1972	AFR	Gary Player (8)	274	−18	1 stroke	Bobby Cole	Royal Johannesburg
60th	1971		Simon Hobday	276	−12	1 stroke	Gary Player	Mowbray
59th	1970		Tommy Horton	285		3 strokes	Terry Westbrook	Royal Durban
58th	1969		Gary Player (7)	273		6 strokes	Trevor Wilkes	Durban
57th	1968		Gary Player (6)	274		7 strokes	Cobie Legrange	Houghton
56th	1967		Gary Player (5)	279		3 strokes	Allan Henning Mike Hoyle	East London
55th	1966		Gary Player (4)	278		1 stroke	Harold Henning Cobie Legrange	Houghton
54th	1965		Gary Player (3)	273		3 strokes	John Hayes	Royal Cape
1964: No tournament due to two events in 1963
53rd	1963 (Dec)		Allan Henning	278		2 strokes	Bruce Keyter	Bloemfontein
52nd	1963 (Mar)		Retief Waltman (2)	281		1 stroke	Sewsunker Sewgolum	Durban
51st	1962		Harold Henning (2)	285		1 stroke	Denis Hutchinson	Houghton
50th	1961		Retief Waltman	289		8 strokes	Barry Franklin (a)	East London
49th	1960		Gary Player (2)	280		7 strokes	Harold Henning Tommy Trevena	Mowbray
48th	1959		Denis Hutchinson (a)	282		1 stroke	Gary Player	Royal Johannesburg
47th	1958		Arthur Stewart (a)	281		1 stroke	Bobby Locke	Bloemfontein
46th	1957		Harold Henning	289		Playoff	Sandy Guthrie	Humewood
45th	1956		Gary Player	286		3 strokes	Bruce Keyter	Durban
44th	1955		Bobby Locke (9)	283		1 stroke	Reg Taylor	Zwartkop
43rd	1954		Reg Taylor (a)	289		2 strokes	Jannie le Roux (a)	East London
42nd	1953		Jimmy Boyd (a)	302		Playoff	Otway Hayes	Royal Cape
41st	1952		Sid Brews (8)	305		1 stroke	Sandy Guthrie	Humewood
40th	1951		Bobby Locke (8)	277		9 strokes	Jimmy Boyd (a) Harry Bradshaw	Houghton
39th	1950		Bobby Locke (7)	280		11 strokes	Sandy Guthrie	Durban
38th	1949		Sid Brews (7)	291		3 strokes	Eric Moore	Maccauvlei
37th	1948		Mickey Janks (a)	298		Playoff	Sandy Guthrie	East London
36th	1947		Ronnie Glennie (a)	293		1 stroke	Eric Moore	Mowbray
35th	1946		Bobby Locke (6)	285		14 strokes	Steve Boshoff (a)	Royal Johannesburg
1941–1945: No tournament due to World War II
34th	1940		Bobby Locke (5)	293		10 strokes	Steve Boshoff (a)	Port Elizabeth
33rd	1939		Bobby Locke (4)	279		8 strokes	Maurice Bodmer (a) Clarence Olander (a)	Durban
32nd	1938		Bobby Locke (3)	279		5 strokes	Sid Brews	Maccauvlei
31st	1937		Bobby Locke (a) (2)	288		11 strokes	Clarence Olander (a)	East London
30th	1936		Clarence Olander (a)	297		Playoff	J Robertson	Royal Cape
29th	1935		Bobby Locke (a)	296		3 strokes	Jock Verwey (a)	Parkview
28th	1934		Sid Brews (6)	319		7 strokes	Jock Verwey (a)	Humewood
27th	1933		Sid Brews (5)	297		3 strokes	Charles McIlvenny	Maccauvlei
26th	1932		Charles McIlvenny	304		4 strokes	Bob Grimsdell	Mowbray
25th	1931		Sid Brews (4)	302		3 strokes	Bob Grimsdell Charles McIlvenny	Port Elizabeth
24th	1930		Sid Brews (3)	297		11 strokes	Jock Brews	East London
23rd	1929		Archie Tosh	315		1 stroke	Jock Brews	Royal Cape
22nd	1928		Jock Brews (4)	297		1 stroke	Sid Brews	Durban
21st	1927		Sid Brews (2)	301		5 strokes	Bert Elkin Charles McIlvenny	Maccauvlei
20th	1926		Jock Brews (3)	301		9 strokes	Bert Elkin	Port Elizabeth
19th	1925		Sid Brews	295		3 strokes	Jock Brews	Johannesburg
18th	1924		Bert Elkin	316		9 strokes	Jock Brews Sid Brews	Durban
17th	1923		Jock Brews (2)	315		1 stroke	Archie Tosh	Royal Cape
16th	1922		Fred Jangle	310		7 strokes	Jock Brews	Port Alfred
15th	1921		Jock Brews	316		3 strokes	Archie Tosh	Port Elizabeth
14th	1920		Laurie Waters (4)	302		2 strokes	Bert Elkin	Johannesburg
13th	1919		William Horne	320		9 strokes	Hugh Gordon Stewart (a)	Durban
1915–1918: No tournament due to World War I
12th	1914		George Fotheringham (5)	299		20 strokes	Jock Brews	Royal Cape
11th	1913		Jimmy Prentice (a)	304		2 strokes	Willie Binnie Jack Fotheringham	Kimberley
10th	1912		George Fotheringham (4)	305		10 strokes	Laurie Waters	Potchefstroom
9th	1911		George Fotheringham (3)	301		11 strokes	David Guthrie	Durban
8th	1910		George Fotheringham (2)	315		5 strokes	Arthur Gray	Royal Cape
7th	1909		Jack Fotheringham	306		2 strokes	George Fotheringham	Potchefstroom
6th	1908		George Fotheringham	294		9 strokes	Laurie Waters	Port Elizabeth
5th	1907		Laurie Waters (3)	147		5 strokes	Walter Day Jr	Kimberley
4th	1906		Arthur Gray (2)	151		3 strokes	H. F. Watson (a)	East London
3rd	1905		Arthur Gray			Playoff	George Fotheringham	Garrison Club
2nd	1904		Laurie Waters (2)	143		4 strokes	Arthur Gray	Johannesburg
1st	1903		Laurie Waters	163		3 strokes	J. W. Stewart	Port Elizabeth

Source:

See also

• Open golf tournament

Notes

1. AFR − Sunshine Tour; ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour.
2. ^ (a) – Amateur
3. Due to impending COVID-19 related travel restrictions in and out of South Africa affecting the makeup of the field, the event was removed from the European Tour schedule. It proceeded as a sole-sanctioned Sunshine Tour event.
4. Storm won with a par on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff.
5. Sullivan won with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
6. ^ Unofficial scoring record as the 4th hole was unplayable during the 3rd and 4th rounds due to heavy rain. For scoring purposes, all players were deemed to have recorded a par for the hole.
7. Ramsay won with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
8. Sterne won with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
9. Immelman won with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
10. McNulty won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
11. Player defeated Bland with a birdie on the third hole of sudden-death after both had tied with 2 under-par 70s after an 18-hole playoff; Humphreys returned a level-par 72 in the playoff.
12. Hayes won following an 18-hole playoff; Hayes 69, Fourie 72.
13. Henning won the 36-hole playoff with a score of 144 to Guthrie's 146.
14. Boyd won the 36-hole playoff with a score of 162 to Hayes 163.
15. Janks won the 36-hole playoff with a score of 147 to Guthrie's 153.
16. Olander won the 36-hole playoff with a score of 146 to Robertson's 151.
17. Some sources have Waters score as 146.
18. Gray won the playoff by a stroke with a score of 151.

References

1. ^ "SA Amateur & Open". South African Golf Association. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
2. "South African Open Championship History and Highlights". South African Open Championship. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
3. "Irish golfers battling travel chaos to get back from South Africa after pulling out of Joburg Open". Irish Independent. 26 November 2021.
4. "SA Open receives world ranking flagship status". News 24. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
5. "How the ranking evolved". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
6. Sherman, Michael (1 December 2021). "SA Open goes ahead without co-sanctioned status for first time in 25 years". IOL. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
7. "Irish golfers battling travel chaos to get back from South Africa after pulling out of Joburg Open". Irish Independent. 26 November 2021.
8. "South African Open: Graeme Storm beats Rory McIlroy in play-off to win title". BBC Sport. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
9. "Andy Sullivan wins South African Open for first European Tour title". BBC Sport. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
10. Bisset, Fergus (20 December 2009). "Richie Ramsay wins South African Open Championship". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
11. Bisset, Fergus (21 December 2008). "Richard Sterne Wins South African Open Championship". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
12. "For Immelman, 'greatest way to start the year'". ESPN. Associated Press. 12 January 2003. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
13. "Bell's South African Open 2002". European Tour. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
14. McCormack, Mark H. (1991). The World of Professional Golf 1991. Chapmans. p. 495. ISBN 1855925583.
15. "Switch in time a knock-out for Darcy". The Glasgow Herald. 1 February 1988. p. 9. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
16. "Mark McNulty". The Glasgow Herald. 9 February 1987. p. 10. Retrieved 21 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
17. McCormack, Mark H. (1988). Ebel World of Professional Golf 1988. Collins Willow. pp. 220, 439–440. ISBN 0002182831.
18. "David Frost". The Glasgow Herald. 10 February 1987. p. 11. Retrieved 21 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
19. "Golf". The Guardian. 28 January 1985. p. 23. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
20. "Golf". The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 January 1983. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
21. "Player makes it a lucky thirteenth". The Glasgow Herald. 7 December 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
22. "Palmer senior champ". The Montreal Gazette. 8 December 1980. p. 19. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
23. "Weekend sport in brief | Golf". The Glasgow Herald. 10 December 1979. p. 19. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
24. "South African Open". The Montreal Gazette. 11 December 1978. p. 38. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
25. "Gary wins record 10th open". The Age. 29 November 1975. p. 24. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
26. "Hayes triumphs in play-off". The Glasgow Herald. 3 February 1976. p. 23. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
27. "Its the Player habit". The Age. 3 February 1975. p. 25. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
28. "Cole wins SA Open". The Glasgow Herald. 4 February 1974. p. 5. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
29. Jacobs, Raymond (5 February 1973). "Revised Charles swing again pays dividends". The Glasgow Herald. p. 5. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
30. "Player wins by one stroke". The Glasgow Herald. 14 February 1972. p. 5. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
31. "Hobday holds off Player". The Glasgow Herald. 15 February 1971. p. 5. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via Google News Archive.
32. The Allied Book of South African Sport & Sports Records. SASBOR. 1988. pp. 1941–1949. ISBN 0620128828 – via Google Books.

External links

• Coverage on the European Tour's official site
• Coverage on Investec's official site

25°20′21″S 27°06′23″E / 25.339275°S 27.106319°E / -25.339275; 27.106319

• European Tour events
• Golf tournaments in South Africa
• Sunshine Tour events
• Recurring sporting events established in 1903
• 1903 establishments in Transvaal Colony