This week’s Investec South African Open has returned for a first time in 15-years to the stunning Durban County Club course laid out close to the Indian Open shoreline.
Though it was 11 years ago when the now-named DP World Tour was last in South Africa’s third largest city and that was for the third and final hosting of the ‘winners only’ Volvo Champions event on this week’s host venue.
I had attended the opening Volvo Champions in 2011 in Bahrain before it was then moved to South Africa, firstly in 2012 at Fancourt while I was in attendance for the final two stagings of the event in 2013 and, as mentioned 2014 and with both at the Durban Country Club.
The Durban Country Club ‘Championship’ course is ‘stretched out’ between the M4 roadway that runs the entire length of the foreshore on one side and then a busy roadway on the main entrance to the club side of the course … see Google map hereunder.
Kings Stadium in the centre and across the road to the road is the Durban CC. You can see the clubhouse mentioned in this Google image
The three rugby/soccer grounds backing onto Kings Stadium in Durban
There was no club driving range for the hosting of the two Volvo Champions events but then there was only 33 players in the 2013 tournament.
So, I’m not sure what will be the practice arrangements for this week’s 114th hosting of the South African Open, and boasting a full field headed by Masters champ Charl Schwarzel and his LIV team-mates Branden Grace and Dean Burmester.
Having no practice range for the Volvo Champions was no real issue as the 33 players and their caddies simply walked across the road from the clubhouse and hit practice balls on a make shift range where there is a number rugby training grounds that back onto the famed Kings Park Stadium, home ground for the Rugby Super 15 Natal Sharks and used during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
And here comes Monty into my story who qualified for the 2014 event having won more than 10 Tour titles and was still some five months shy of being under the age of 50 per the entry guidelines.
2013 Volvo Champions – Monty and caddy Graeme Heinrich on the practice range with the Kings Park Stadium clearly in the background. You can also see the goal posts in place. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
The Scot was on the range and hitting goal balls over two football/soccer fields and to a third that were each running horizontal.
Monty was on the halfway line or thereabouts on one field and drawing a number of practice shots prefectly through the very narrow target of two distant goal posts and proudly over the cross-bar – see image above.
It was brilliant and he was clearly enjoying the challenge of ‘kicking a goal’, not that Monty probably ever played rugby in his sports career.
Kings Stadium – Home of the Natal Sharks packed to the roof in January 2013 with ACN congress members and VIP guest Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa.
Now on the third day of the tournament there was also plenty of activity within and all around the vicinity of the stadium as the then 101st Africa National Congress (ANC) anniversary rally was taking in the stadium and with Jacob Zuma, the then South African President, to address the some 60,000 crowd.
Tournament practice had gone ahead earlier in the day and what was taking place within the stadium really did not affect the hosting of the golf tournament proper as the course, as you can see, is well across the road and running away from the clubhouse.
Though the celebrations were already in full swing late on Friday with music from the stadium drowning out golf spectator applause while Scott Jamieson, and in contention, indicated he was caught out on the 18th when there was a break in the music.
Bernie climbs aboard a 750hp Volvo FH Series truck and the prize for an ace on the 18th hole in the week of the 2013 Volvo Champions. (Photo – www.golfbymiss.com)
Jamieson had been the last into the Volvo event and securing his place a few weeks earlier before Christmas and less than 10 miles down the road in winning the inagural Nelson Mandela Championship at the Royal Durban Club.
He said: “Despite all the noise I still managed to stay in the zone.
“But then I was standing over my tee shot at 18, the music had been on for a while and right when I pulled the trigger the music stopped.”
Play ended on day three with Jamieson leading by five shots and with the activities across the road where just getting into the deep end however tournament officials were not taking any risks in arranging for police escorts to take the players, caddies and officials back to their hotels and not get caught-up in any traffic jams.
Ah, another chapter for the book!
