Icon Player relishes Lost City return
In a year which Gary Player has celebrated some emotional moments on a host of memorable golf courses, The Lost City Golf Club at Sun City may just be the most special of them all.
Player will arrive at Sun City in November for his Gary Player Invitational presented by Coca-Cola at the end of what has been a year of celebration, from the 50th anniversary of his career Grand Slam to being named South Africa’s captain of its first Olympic golf team, and to his 80th birthday in the week of this tournament.
And for a man who has always hoped his legacy would be that he cared for his fellow human beings, Player will no doubt view The Lost City Golf Club where his tournament will take place from 12-15 November as one of the more special courses he has been privileged to visit this year.
“It’s been a remarkable year for me. I’ve celebrated at some of the world’s greatest golf courses, such as Augusta National Golf Club, the Old Course in St Andrews and many more. The 50th anniversary of my career Grand Slam also brings back wonderful memories of Bellerive Golf Club, where I won the 1965 US Open to complete my Grand Slam,” says Player.
“And I had a wonderful day with the people of Soweto at Soweto Golf Club, playing with some of the real characters of Soweto golf and celebrating my birthday with such a special community there. All of these golf courses have a different meaning for me. But I’ve always loved The Lost City Golf Course, and with it being the venue for our charity tournament that has done so much good over the years, I cannot wait to get back there and end the year off on a high note.”
Player designed The Lost City Golf Course several years after the more iconic course at Sun City, the Gary Player Country Club. But he has always felt that The Lost City Golf Course shouldn’t be viewed as inferior to its neighbour, and in some senses offers an even greater challenge.
“It’s a course that is unique in character. The bushveld atmosphere gives it that African feel, and in that sense I always feel like I’m truly at home when I play there. I think it’s a fabulous advertisement for what golf in Africa is truly like.”
And as the home of a celebrity charity tournament that is the ultimate “Union of Golf and Giving” which has helped The Player Foundation to raise more than R800 million for children’s charities around the world since 1983, and where Player and his amateur team won for the first time last year, this is indeed a golf course that holds special memories for South Africa’s greatest golfer.
Jacasport