The tournament is the first event of the new Rise-Up Series on the Sunshine Tour, but more importantly, it marks the official return of golf in South Africa.

The former South African Open champion, Hennie Otto, is just one of a whole host of top players that will be competing.

Otto, who was a top10 finisher during the 2003 Open Championship told OFM Sport that the cold front will make their first week back interesting.

“There are amazing times lying ahead for us now after that the tour has done to start up the five Rise-Up Series tournaments.

“It has been a very tough last five months for everyone as a sportsman. It’s going to be great to be outdoors and enjoy what you do, but you only enjoy it when you are playing well.

“The whole world has been affected by everything.

“We were out at Killarney this morning and we see there’s a little cold front coming, so our first week back is going to be challenging.

“I just want to thank the Sunshine Tour and their staff for how they went about everything. Especially when they accommodated us with some finances as well during this Covid-19.

“We can’t thank them enough for that. Then there is also all the hard work behind the scenes for what they have done to get to where we are now, to start playing again and having something to play for.”

It will be the first since the Dimension Data Pro-Am in February that professional golf will be played in South Africa.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport