An international field from ten countries will be competing at Atlantic Beach Golf Club in South Africa on January 8-9 in the first of five International Final Qualifying competitions for the 133rd Open Golf Championship.
Charl Schwartzel, 19, is one of the 45 South African players attempting to qualify for the Open Golf Championship, which will be played from July 15-18, 2004, and should he gain one of the four qualifying places, will go to Royal Troon with the experience of playing in this year’s Open Golf Championship at Royal St. George’s.
Last year, Schwartzel became the second youngest player to secure his European Tour card through the Qualifying School and underlined his potential by qualifying for the Open Golf Championship. Other leading South Africans taking part in the International Final Qualifying tournament include Darren Fichardt, Louis Oosthuizen, Richard Sterne and Bradford Vaughan.
Commenting on the field for Atlantic Beach, Michael Tate, Assistant Secretary of the R&A, said: “We are delighted with the entry for the first of the five IFQ’s where players will be competing for four places in the Open.
"We were always convinced that they would attract players in their home country and we see it as a bonus that players from further afield will be making the trip to South Africa."
In 2004, IFQ competitions of 36 hole stroke play will be played at Atlantic Beach Golf Club in South Africa; Kingston Heath Golf Club, Victoria, Australia; Saujana Golf & Country Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Sunningdale Golf Club, Old and New Courses, England, and Congressional Country Club, Gold and Blue Courses, Maryland, USA.
Each of Africa, Asia and Australasia will be guaranteed four qualifying places while America and Europe will each be guaranteed at least 12.
Regional Qualifying (RQ) will be retained at 16 venues and Local Final Qualifying will take place at Glasgow (Gailes), Irvine, Turnberry Kintyre and Western Gailes on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th July, one day earlier than has been the recent practice. A minimum of 12 places will be available from LFQ.
The field for the 133rd Open Golf Championship will be 156 and if the 2004 modified exemption conditions were applied to recent Open Golf Championship entries, approximately 96 players would be exempt. With 36 players coming from IFQ and 12 from LFQ, this would leave 12 remaining qualifying spots to be allocated at the discretion of the Championship Committee who expect to take into account the relative strengths of the Tours of Africa, Australasia, Asia, America and Europe.
