Michael Vlismas Golf
With one golf team event having already made history for all the wrong reasons this year, three South African golfers will be hoping to ensure themselves a more respectable place in the record books this week.
David Frost, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen will attempt to lead their country to an unprecedented third successive Alfred Dunhill Cup triumph when the annual 1- million team event tees off at St Andrews’s Old Course on Thursday.
The trio once again carry the nation’s golfing hopes on their shoulders. And it’s those words, “once again”, which sum up their success to date.
You only had to watch the closing holes of last year’s final against Spain to understand how important it is to have three of the same players, now with a total of 71 Alfred Dunhill Cup matches between them, pooling that kind of experience on a course which has hazards with such “affectionate” names as “Lion’s Mouth”, “Hell” and “Coffins”.
And the mainstay of that experience is, without a doubt, Retief Goosen.
Goosen’s 10 out of 10 record in the event would have brought a smile to the haggard face of Old Tom Morris.
The once custodian of the links may have felt that finally, here was a golfer who understood those mystifying humps and hollows as well as he did.
This year, “Goose” brings with him the title of French Open champion as he attempts to better Greg Norman’s record of 11 straight individual victories in the Alfred Dunhill Cup.
He has always labelled his putting strength as the key to success on the Old Course, where the blustery conditions make it difficult to stop the ball close to the hole.
There is also no doubt in Goosen’s mind that a third victory this year will be “the biggest moment of my golf career”.
But the best teams never rely solely on one player. Els returns to the place where it all began as the world number six and reigning South African PGA champion.
And what of Frost?
Well, winning the SA Open was one thing. But come the end of what will probably be another wet, cold yet spectacular week in world golf, Frost will be hoping to take the traditional team picture on the famous Swilcan Burn bridge with not a bottle of bubbly in his hands, but rather a product of his own vintage.
Having won the SA Open at his home course, the Stellenbosch Golf Club in February, only a few minutes drive from his wine estate, poetic justice will certainly be served if Frost can celebrate the release of his 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon by guiding South Africa into golfing folklore.
The victory over Sweden in the 1997 final and then Spain last year has set up this first hat-trick opportunity in the event’s 15-year history.
But the Spaniards will this year field a strong team boasting US Masters champion Jos Maria Olazabal, teen sensation Sergio Garcia and European Ryder Cup team member Miguel Angel Jiminez.
Garcia has victories in both the Irish Open and last week’s German Masters as well as a second-place finish behind Tiger Woods in this year’s US PGA Championship to his credit.
The Americans, who have perhaps the closest record of success to South Africa in this event, but with three separate victories, belatedly named their line-up.
The Stars and Stripes will this year be represented by US Open champion Payne Stewart, 1998 US Masters and Open champion, Mark O’Meara, and 1996 Open champion, Tom Lehman.
The rock-solid Colin Montgomerie will lead the Scottish challenge along with Open champion Paul Lawrie and Gary Orr.
Lee Westwood – a three-time winner in Europe this year – is the obvious trump card in England’s team of European Ryder Cup captain Mark James and David Howell.
A few other names which might interest the South African golfing public include that of Frenchman Jean van de Velde who, as the golfers themselves like to describe it, threw up all over himself coming down the stretch at Carnoustie in this year’s Open Championship.
And Italy will have the big-hitting Emanuele Canonica in their line-up.
Canonica caught the eye of South Africans when playing in the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Sun City in February.
His nine under par 63 at the Lost City Golf Course in the first round was the lowest competitive score ever recorded on either of the Sun City courses.
The format of play for the Alfred Dunhill Cup will see the 16 competing nations drawn into four groups for the first three days of Round Robin.
The winners of each group will advance to Sunday morning’s semi-finals, with the final to be played in the afternoon.
It is a simple format to determine the champion, but a not-so-simple road to get there.
Perhaps the final word of advice on how to do so should go to Bobby Jones.
Jones initially hated the course, but later grew to love its subtleties and challenges.
“There is always a way at St Andrews, although it is not always the obvious way,” he noted.
Trust a golden “Goose” to find it.
ENDS
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