Gary Player - The Legend

Charities Set to Benefit Hugely for the 6th Consecutive Year at the Nelson Mandela Invitational

Aug 09, 2005 | Filed Under: The Player Foundation

And ‘The Goose’ joins the field of professional golfers…

In a media briefing held on Monday, August 8th at the Arabella Country Estate, South Africa’s Sportsman of the 20th Century and tournament host Gary Player announced another prestigious line-up of participants for the 2005 edition of South Africa’s premier charity sporting event - the Nelson Mandela Invitational presented by Coca-Cola.

The Nelson Mandela Invitational is now in its sixth year and has raised in excess of R15 million for its two beneficiary children’s charities, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and The Player Foundation.

Ernie Els was due to defend the title that he and Vincent Tshabalala won in such dramatic fashion in 2004, however, a bitterly disappointed Els has confirmed that, having recently undergone major knee surgery, he will be unable to return to Arabella at the end of November. In his place, tournament organizers have been able to secure the participation of World No 5 and two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen who, having participated in earlier Nelson Mandela Invitational events is looking forward to returning to assist with raising significant funds for the two children’s charities. Joining Goosen in the Regular Tour places are Lee Westwood, Presidents Cup International Team member Tim Clark, as well as NMI regular Scotsman Andrew Coltart.

Among the Champions Tour players joining tournament host Gary Player will be defending champion Vincent Tshabalala, as well as Mark Mc Nulty, Simon Hobday, Hugh Baiocchi and John Bland.

The celebrities that give of their time to support the charities are always popular with the crowds at Arabella and among their ranks again will be Irish heartthrob Ronan Keating, face of Lancome Ines Sastr’, SA soccer legend Lucas Radebe as well as new faces, US football great Emmit Smith and Namibian Olympic sprint hero Frankie Fredericks. Another newcomer is popular BBC radio personality DJ Spoony who is sure to be a hit with fans.

The most important participants in this event are the eight business leaders who pay US $30,000 each for the privilege of sharing the fairways with some of the greats of golf. This year their ranks are filled by tournament stalwarts Hugh Connerty, Dave King and Bill Rodriguez, as well as President of Coca-Cola Southern Africa David Lyons and former US Coca-Cola executive Carl Ware.

The Nelson Mandela Invitational presented by Coca-Cola will again be played at the celebrated Arabella Country Estate near Hermanus in the Western Cape. Participants are set to arrive on Thursday 24 November and the traditional pre-tournament Pro-Am takes place on Friday 25, while the 36-hole pro-celebrity-businessmen tournament takes place on November 26th and 27th. The remaining members of the line-up will be named in due course as their participation is confirmed.

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