The Road to Mallorca stops off in Cape Town this week for the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open at Royal Cape Golf Club. Here is some of the key information ahead of the second event of the European Challenge Tour’s South African Swing.
*Royal Cape Golf Club *
Host venue Royal Cape is the oldest golf club in South Africa, established in 1885. The venue, which sits in the shadow of Table Mountain, has staged ten South African Opens, including the 1965 edition of the event, which was won by nine-time Major Champion Gary Player. Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman and Mark McNulty have also triumphed at the venue.
*Past Champions *
The 2020 edition of the Cape Town Open was the first time it had been co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour, but it has a rich history prior to that. Anton Karlsson won last year’s event and he was the second European to taste success in Cape Town after Rhys Enoch’s triumph in 2018.
Prior to that, household South African names had been added to the trophy, including Jacques Kruyswijk, Brand Stone, Jaco Ahlers and Jake Roos, the latter of whom won the first edition in 2012.
*Fancy a tipple? *
Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky, one of the Distell Group’s leading and internationally awarded brands, has become the new title sponsor of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open. Bain’s single grain whisky is distilled and double matured at just one location, situated at the foot of the spectacular Bainskloof Pass – The James Sedgwick Distillery, the home of Bain’s, which is the only commercial whisky distillery in Africa.
An important caddie
Four-time European Tour winner Marcel Siem’s game looked to be trending in the right direction at the season-opening Limpopo Championship. The German played in the final group on Sunday but was unable to earn a spot in the play-off after a quadruple bogey nine on the final hole. Despite this, there were plenty of positives for the 40-year-old to take, and this week he has a helping hand to go one step further. Siem’s caddie for the week is former Sunshine Tour player Andrew Georgiou, who holds the course record of 62 (-10) at Royal Cape. Georgiou could be a useful addition for Siem this week.
