The European Senior Tour breaks new ground this week with a maiden visit to South Africa where John Bland and the legendary Gary Player will hope their inside knowledge provides an advantage in the Berenberg Bank Masters.
Player, an 18 time Major and Senior Major Champion, designed the spectacular Links at Fancourt which hosts the €500,000 event, while Bland is attached to the club in George, which is in the heart of the Garden Route, South Africa’s golfing mecca.
Both South Africans have been instrumental in attracting the inaugural tournament to the world renowned Links at Fancourt and will hope to provide a home winner, as will a host of their compatriots including Simon Hobday, winner of the 1994 US Senior Open, Hugh Baiocchi, Jeff Hawkes, Gavan Levenson, Bobby Lincoln and Chris Williams.
Aged 74 and 64 respectively, Player and Bland are two of the eldest members of the field but both possess undoubted quality and an extensive knowledge of the par 73, 6852 yard course, with Player recently overseeing the resurfacing of all 18 greens and resculpturing of 27 bunkers.
Bland was tied fifth on his last Senior Tour appearance in the season opening Mauritius Commercial Bank Open in December, having created history during the 2009 campaign when he won the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open.
That came 13 years and 313 days after he captured his maiden title in the London Masters during his rookie season in 1995, setting a new record for the longest gap between Senior Tour wins, making him the second oldest Senior Tour champion – behind Neil Coles – at the age of 63.
Bland said: “I always go into a tournament hoping to win and I will definitely try my best at the Berenberg Bank Masters. I believe that local knowledge is usually worth a couple of shots a round.
“I'm proud to say that I've been attached to Fancourt for many years and I am very excited that they are hosting the event. I believe that it is one of the most beautiful resorts in the world.
“It will be fantastic for golf lovers in the Garden Route to come and see legends of the game live in action and we have a fantastic field including Major winners, former Ryder Cup winning Captains and several Ryder Cup players, as well as a strong South African contingent.
“Gary Player did a magnificent job in creating The Links with its gently undulating fairways on completely flat piece of land - a former airstrip! On a winter's day in George, playing The Links, it feels like one could be anywhere in Scotland or Ireland!”
Looking to create some history of his own this week will be Thailand’s Boonchu Ruangkit, who is attempting to become the first player to win three consecutive Senior Tour events since Tommy Horton in 1997.
Ruangkit captured his maiden title on his Senior Tour debut in Brunei before adding the Chang Thailand Senior Masters presented by ISPS title two weeks ago, carding the lowest 54 hole total in Senior Tour history – 21 under par 195 – to win by a record 11 strokes.
Former Ryder Cup Captains Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam will be looking to deny Ruangkit, the current Order of Merit leader, another place in the record books. While Torrance already has top five finishes in Mauritius and Brunei under his belt this season, Woosnam is yet to find his top gear in 2010 but has previously tasted success on South African soil.
The former World Number One won the Million Dollar Challenge at Sun City in 1987 and the 2008 John Jacobs Trophy winner is chasing his fourth Senior Tour title having finished second behind Torrance is last year’s Order of Merit.
Zimbabwe’s Tony Johnstone, who commentated for Sky Sports during The European Tour’s South Africa swing, will also be hoping his past form in the country re-emerges having won the Alfred Dunhill SA PGA Championship in 1998.
Fancourt has previously hosted the Presidents Cup in 2003, the inaugural Women’s World Cup of Golf in 2005, and the South African Open Championship on The European Tour in 2006, which was won by home favourite Retief Goosen.
