The Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) has come out in full support of the prestigious SAA Open Championship which takes place at Humewood Golf Club in Port Elizabeth next week, and as an exclusive rights sponsor will be a highly visible presence at the championships.
Defending champion Retief Goosen’s closest rivals are Ernie Els, Tim Clark and Trevor Immelman who will compete for the championship’s €1 million purse.
The SAA Open is the world's second oldest golf open championship and is second only to the British Open.
Although earlier games played between 1893 and 1902 according the winner courtesy champion status, it was from 1903 that the then SA Open became a fully fledged open championship.
“This is the fifth time the Humewood Golf Club has hosted the SAA Open Championship and it is a fitting tribute to the course and the province that it does so in the year the club celebrates its 75th anniversary,” ECDC’s CEO Mxolisi Matshamba said.
“The Eastern Cape benefits from golfing and the lifestyle options it presents, its participants, even those who are not professionals. ECDC is proud from an investment promotion perspective to be a highly visible presence at the championships. Golf is the official sport of business and the SAA Open is as good as it gets,” he said.
In terms of its sponsorship ECDC will be entitled to brand extensively at the four day championship which runs from Thursday, 14 December to Sunday, 17 December 2006.
The last time the SAA Open was held at Humewood Golf Club was in 1957.
The championship is also considered to be returning to its roots, with it first having being played in Port Elizabeth in 1893. It was from these beginnings that it grew into the premier event it is today, co-sanctioned by both the European Tour and Sunshine Tour and featuring the cream of the world's players.


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For more information contact
ECDC’s Ikhona Mvaphantsi
083 7134453