Major-winner Louis Oosthuizen will compete in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open this November, but the South African star also has one eye on the future as he prepares to make his mark as a golf course architect at Heritage Resorts.
The 34 year old winner of the 2010 Open Championship has partnered with Peter Matkovich at Matkovich Group, which is behind some of South Africa’s most celebrated golf courses and over 50 designs throughout the rest of Africa.
The two will co-design their first golf course together to create the second 18 hole golf course at Heritage Resorts in Mauritius.
The resort’s current course, The Heritage Golf Club, was also designed by Matkovich and will host the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open from November 30 to December 3.
It is the second time the course, which has been voted the Best Golf Course in the Indian Ocean for the past three years by the World Golf Awards, has hosted the tournament. The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open is tri-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, the European Tour and the Asian Tour, and in November will take its place as the second event on the 2018 European Tour International Schedule.
Oosthuizen said: “My passion for playing golf has now lead me to explore my passion for golf design and I’m thrilled to be co-designing this incredible second golf course at Heritage Resorts with Peter.
“Our first project together could not be more exotic; who would not dream of designing a course on the paradise island of Mauritius and in one of the most beautiful resorts on the island. I’m really looking forward to creating a golf course which perfectly balances the challenge of a championship layout with the element of fun that needs to be incorporated into any golf course.”
Oosthuizen’s global playing career on some of the world’s most iconic golf courses, as well as his eye for the land, attracted Matkovich to the idea of a partnership with the South African star.
Matkovich said: “Louis plays all over the world and is always seeing something new and different that we could incorporate into our designs. He is a global golfer and this will also give us an opportunity to be more global as a company. We are now looking at the next 10 to 15 years and the future of our brand.
“Louis has a passion for what he does and a desire for excellence. He is also a son of the land through his farming background he shares my love of nature.”
The two share another bond – a love for the Old Course in St Andrews. Oosthuizen won The Open there by seven strokes in 2010 and Matkovich, who has been designing golf courses since 1975, is a tremendous admirer of links architecture.
“The Old Course gets it right. To me, the greatest fun of some of the links courses are what I call a link hole, where you’ve got to get from one area to another – a good designer makes that hole playable. My dream would be to build a golf course in a sand area because I love links golf.”
