HOYLAKE, England — The first African Amateur Championship will be played at Leopard Creek, South Africa, from Feb. 21-24, 2024, the R&A announced Wednesday.
The championship will feature 72 men from the African region competing in a 72-hole stroke play format, with the winner receiving an exemption in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon.
An invitational event for 20 elite women from the region will also be held at the venue during the week of the championship.
“It’s a hugely exciting initiative for African golf, and it’s the last part of the continent around the world where we don’t have our own championships that we now do,” said Martin Slumbers, CEO of The R&A, said during a press conference.
The introduction of the championship complements existing amateur championships jointly organized by The R&A in Asia-Pacific and Latin America and will enable players from Africa to play at the highest level, as well as creating a pathway for African golfers to develop and become an inspiration for others to follow.
The championship will also build on an Africa High Performance Program established last year by The R&A and delivered to players and coaches in African countries as part of a wider effort to develop golf and provide support to players aspiring to reach elite levels of the sport.
“We are creating a world-class platform for the most talented amateur golfers in Africa to compete against each other and realize their ambitions in the sport,” Slumbers said in a press release. “We have already seen talented players emerge from the continent with three recent winners of the British Amateur Championship, including Christo Lamprecht at Hillside last month, and hope that in the years to come we will see golfers follow in the footsteps of Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Nick Price, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen and Ashleigh Buhai who have won The Open and AIG Women’s Open.
Leopard Creek has hosted the Alfred Dunhill Championship since 2004 and winners there include major champions such as Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel, who has won the event three times at the venue.
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