African Amateur Stroke Play moves from Leopard Creek to Glendower

Glendower Golf Club will host the sixth edition of the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship from 8-11 February on the African Swing; credit Glendower Golf Club.

The sixth edition of the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship will move from Leopard Creek to Glendower Golf Club, GolfRSA announced today.

The prestigious 72-hole tournament remains in the same time slot from 8-11 February. 

“Due to the escalating numbers during this second wave of Covid-19 and the subsequent increasing pressure on the South African healthcare industry, we consulted with our Covid-19 Compliance Committee and the National Executive Committee to review our 2021 African Swing,” explained GolfRSA CEO Grant Hepburn.

“Since the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship will be preceded by the South African Stroke Play and followed by the South African Amateur Championships at venues in Johannesburg, we decided to move this year’s African Amateur Stroke Play Championship to Glendower Golf Club so the three events can played consecutively in the same province.

“We believe this decision will greatly assist our local and international competitors and our staff.

“The venue change removes the necessity for long distance travel and ensures that competitors and staff can remain in one community. Everyone can remain in their same accommodation for the duration of the African Swing, and in fairly close proximity of all three venues. GolfRSA staff can also implement our Risk Mitigation Guidelines and Protocols more efficiently and should any cases of Covid-19 arise, we will be able to manage the situation efficiently.

“Given the current status of regulations, we also decided to cancel the team component for this year’s African Amateur Stroke Play Championship to further alleviate the pressure on the international teams to travel and stay together.

“We have taken all the steps necessary to ensure a safe environment for all the competitors engaged in the African Swing and we trust all the competitors will appreciate our decisions were made with their best interests at heart.”

South African Golf Association Acting President Martin Saaiman lamented the need to move the tournament away from its traditional host venue, but applauded Glendower Golf Club for accommodating the venue change.

“It is disappointing that, due to the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, we are unable to host the sixth edition at Leopard Creek. The course is always a highlight on our amateur golfing calendar and is recognised as one of the most spectacular tournament venues in the world.

“We are extremely grateful to Sandy Burnard and her team, who didn’t hesitate for a moment when we posed our request for the venue change,” Saaiman said. 

“Glendower is one of South Africa’s top ranked courses and, in addition to hosting a bevy of South African Open Championships, the club has also played host to a large number of premier amateur events in the last four decades.

“Glendower hosted the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship with great success in 2018 and we believe this challenging layout will once again produce a week of exciting shot-making and thrilling golf.”

The South African Stroke Play Championship will be played at Randpark Golf Club from 1 – 4 February and Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club will host the SA Amateur, SA Women’s Stroke Play and SA Women’s Amateur Championships simultaneously from 14-19 February.

The closing date for the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship is 19 January 2021.