European Tour: 2020 season kicks off at Alfred Dunhill Championship
By Matt Coles
The 2020 European Tour season starts this week, with the Alfred Dunhill Championship kicking things off for the new campaign.
Just four days after the DP World Tour Championship brought the curtain down on the 2019 season, the Alfred Dunhill Championship gets things underway for the start of the 2020 season, with a new Race to Dubai crown up for grabs come twelve months time in Dubai.
The Alfred Dunhill Championship is one of four events in South Africa that are co-sanctioned between the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour, and this will be the 20th edition of the event, with the first taking place in early 2000.
The event now takes place at the stunning Leopard Creek CC, which nestles right next to the Kruger National Park, giving this tournament some of the most stunning views on the European Tour calendar, and what a way to kick things off!
The course itself is tough, with the 13th hole having the famous Crocodile River running alongside it. There are also several other holes which feature water hazards, including the par-5 18th, which has an island green to finish off the round.
The event has been dominated by South Africans, with nine victories between six players. Brandon Stone is the most recent home winner, having taken the title in 2016, while Branden Grace, Garth Mulroy, Richard Sterne and Ernie Els have also won the event.
2011 Masters champion, and home favourite, Charl Schwartzel has the best record at the event, having won the title four times, as well as finishing runner-up on four other occasions. Over his twelve appearances at Leopard Creek, Schwartzel is 119 under par.
The South African also holds the record aggregate score for the tournament, posting a -24 score of 264 in 2012, while Spain’s Pablo Martin is the only other multiple-winner of the tournament, having won it in back-to-back years, in 2009 and 2010.
David Lipsky is the reigning champion, but the American will not be back to defend his crown, which was his maiden European Tour title.
Schwartzel will tee off alongside the latest South African winner on the European Tour, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, with the pair playing alongside Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal for the opening two days.
Elsewhere, Branden Grace will play alongside the English pair of Eddie Pepperell and Oliver Wilson, while Ernie Els, George Coetzee and Richard Sterne will feature in the major all-South African group on Thursday and Friday.
This year’s field will also feature 21 of the 28 players that gained their cards through to the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, while 14 of the 15 Challenge Tour graduates will also take part in South Africa this week.
The new season starts at 06:20 local (GMT+2), with play starting from both the 1st and 10th tees on the first two days. Jonathan Caldwell, Daniel Green and Jake McLeod get things underway from the 1st, while the 10th sees Pedro Figueiredo, Lyle Rowe and Hugo Leon kicking things off.
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Selected Tee Times (* = 10th tee start):
07:00* & 12:00: Thomas Bjorn (DEN), David Drysdale (SCO), Garth Mulroy (RSA)
07:10* & 12:10: Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA)
07:20* & 12:20: Oliver Wilson (ENG), Branden Grace (RSA), Eddie Pepperell (ENG)
12:10 & 07:10*: Ross Fisher (ENG), Justin Harding (RSA), Zander Lombard (RSA)
12:20 & 07:20*: Ernie Els (RSA), Richard Sterne (RSA), George Coetzee (RSA)
12:30 & 07:30*: Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Alexander Bjork (SWE), Brandon Stone (RSA)