The tournament, which is co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, will be played at the course for the first time. It has attracted a star-studded field with top golfers from abroad and locally.

These players include the likes of Wilco Nienaber from Bloemfontein as well as Joachim B. Hansen, Alexander Knappe, Gregory Bourdy and the Mangaung Open winner, Oliver Hundebøll.

Nienaber told OFM Sport that he looks forward to playing on home soil again.

"I'm obviously really excited to get started again and it's nice being home," said the 22-year-old golfer, who these days mostly plays overseas.

"It's nice playing in front of home crowds and it's the little things like being able to drive your own car and not having to rent one. So that's all really nice.

"It's a different venue for the Joburg Open this year and for the South African Open. Houghton is looking really good.

"I've got an early tee time and I'm excited to start, and hopefully I can lay a nice foundation for the start of the new season."

The first players will be on the tee at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Nienaber will get his first round underway at 7:30.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport