Classic Glendower to host 103rd SA Open

The South African Open Championship goes back to the classics with the announcement that 103rd playing of the second oldest Open Championship will be hosted by the prestigious Glendower Golf Club from November 21-24, 2013.

No stranger to top level championship golf, Glendower staged the country’s flagship event in 1989, 1993 and 1997 and the 18-hole championship course has been home to the Sunshine Tour’s annual BMG Classic since 2009.

South Africa’s Clinton Whitelaw won the 1993 edition, but the course was kinder to the international visitors on the other two occasions.

American Fred Wadsworth became only the fourth foreign winner of the SA Open since it’s inauguration in 1903 when he outplayed countryman Tom Lehman to lift the title in 1989.

In 1997, Fijian Vijay Singh held off Zimbabwe’s Nick Price in a titanic battle to claim the title.

The course has also provided the backdrop to some of South Africa’s flagship amateur championships, including the 1986 Womens 72-Hole Teams Championship, 1987 SA Amateur and SA Stroke Play Championships, the 1993 SA Mens Inter-Provincial and the SA Womens Amateur and SA Stroke Play Championships in 2003.

“We are delighted to announce Glendower Golf Club as the venue for 103rd South African Open Championship,” said Sunshine Tour tournament director, Gary Todd.

“Glendower has a proud history extending back to 1935. The course is a true classic and with recent upgrades, arguably one of the best golf courses in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality area.

“I have no doubt that the course will present a stern challenge, befitting the status and prestige of the 103rd South African Open Championship.”

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