With the establishment of the Africa Amateur Championship, the inaugural edition of which is being staged this week at Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa, the R&A continues its crusade to grow golf around the world. Much as it has done with the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (in partnership with the Masters Tournament) and the Latin America Amateur (with the Masters and the USGA), the St. Andrews-based organization is once again trying to raise ambitions and create opportunities for competitive players in an outpost of the golf world while developing heroes who might help to draw youngsters to the sport.
The 2024 Africa Amateur, which began Wednesday, features 72 men from 24 countries in a 72-hole tournament. The field will be cut to 40 after 36 holes, with the winner receiving exemptions in this year’s Open and Amateur Championships as well as the Alfred Dunhill Championship, which is also staged at Leopard Creek and part of the DP World Tour.
At the same time, the R&A is debuting the Africa Amateur Women’s Invitational at Leopard Creek, a wild and wonderful retreat that billionaire businessman Johann Rupert established in 1997 on the border of Kruger Park – a game preserve where crocodiles, hippos, elephants, antelopes and Cape buffalo roam.
CLICK HERE TO READ THIS STORY AT GGP+; AND CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO GGP+ HOMEPAGE