Els keen to play South African tour again

Ernie Els admitted on Monday that he would love to support the Sunshine Tour and play a number of the local events again.

Els is in South Africa for his first site inspection of the Gardener Ross Golf and Country Estate to be built in Centurion. The ‘Big Easy”, as he is known, is contributing to the design of the golf course.

Els indicated, however, that in order for him to play again there would need to be a few date changes to the local tour events.

‘I don’t want people to think that I am making demands of the tour. I know they have their commitments.

‘But I would love to play here and I know so would Nick Price, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark, Trevor Immelman and many of other guys.”

The problem, added Els, is that ”if you qualify for some of the bigger events on the United States PGA Tour, like the Tour Championship in Hawaii, then you feel committed to play in them and I don’t want to spread myself too thin”.

Els suggested that perhaps the local tour should start in late November, a couple of weeks before the Nedbank Challenge at Sun City.

‘Maybe then you have one of the European Tour co-sanctioned events, like the SA Open, after that in early December.”

Els said that the tour was trying its best to help the players.

‘Johan Immelman [the local tour supervisor] will be coming over from the US to discuss it with us. We understand their predicament as well. They have commitments to their sponsors and sometimes their hands are tied.”

With this development in Centurion, though, Els will literally be returning to his roots.

‘This farm is where my grandfather grew up. He lived here for about 10 years between 1911 and 1921 so it has some historical value for me. So when the project came around I jumped at it. Maybe it will bring a little bit of good luck.”

The layout will include a housing estate around which the golf course will be built.

‘It’s a very big piece of land so we can have a really big golf course — around 7 280m — with big fairways, big bunkers and big greens.

‘It will be great at altitude as the ball carries an extra 10%.”

Els said they had discussed making a few changes already and more could come at later inspections.

‘Unlike many of the golfers who lend their names to various layouts, I get far more involved. I’ll probably do around eight inspections while it is being built. I also speak with the designers on a weekly basis.

‘I feel the more I get involved, the more I learn about golf design.

‘But when I do get involved, I want to be with the right team, with the right financial back-up. It must be a professionally run affair.”

The team comprises Gardener Ross International Finance and Devco Africa, a residential property developer with more than 15 years experience in the construction field.

This is the sixth golf course in which Els has been involved in the design and he is looking at two more — Paradise Island in the Bahamas and another in Mauritius. — Sapa