One of the four World Golf Championship events will be held in South Africa from 2012 after the Sunshine Tour announced a five-year deal to stage the tournament.  Although an exact date and venue for the event have yet to be decided, just announcing the staging of a WGC event in South Africa is a major coup for golf in the country, which was given another massive boost at the weekend with Charl Schwartzel’s victory at Augusta.

Sunshine Tour commissioner Gareth Tindall said “This is, without doubt, the most significant milestone in the history of professional golf in South Africa.  It is something that we as the Sunshine Tour have been working on for a long time and the unanimous support that we have received from the other professional Tours around the world confirms the major standing of our players and the Sunshine Tour in world golf.

“What is even more significant is that we have the commitment that we will host this World Golf Championships event for a period of five years.”   The event will be known as a Tournament of Hope as it will be aimed at increasing awareness of poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

By Keith Baird.  Keith has been PerryGolf for over 10 years and is one of our Golf Travel Specialists.