A new generation of South Africans made their presence felt on the European Tour in 2017, and are aiming to build on their success in the new season as they turn their attention to the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and the Joburg Open.
Dylan Frittelli and Dean Burmester secured maiden European Tour titles, with Haydn Porteous winning for the second consecutive year, and all three closed out the season with impressive performances in the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
Each made their debut in the Race to Dubai finale, with Frittelli and Burmester sharing fourth place behind the winner Jon Rahm, and Porteous finishing in a tie for 21stalongside Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood.
A tremendous season for Frittelli included his first European Tour title in the Lyoness Open powered by Organic+ as well as a share of second in the Turkish Airlines Open – a Rolex Series event - and the Volvo China Open, to take him to 19th place on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
After fourth and seventh place finishes at the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni and Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship early in the season, Burmester followed up his win at the Tshwane Open with further top 10s in the BMW PGA Championship and the Portugal Masters to finish in 41stplace overall.
Meanwhile Porteous finished 55th on the Race to Dubai following his second European Tour victory in the D&D Real Czech Masters and then a share of 12th in the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player added to a 6th place finish at Made in Denmark earlier in the season.
All three will play in the €1 million AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at The Heritage Golf Club from November 30 to December 3, and then the R15 million Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club from December 7-10 – both events that are tri-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour and Sunshine Tour.
Another South African, George Coetzee - who took the inaugural Mauritius Open title in 2015 – will also feature in both events after a strong second half of the season that included three top 10s in his last eight tournaments on his way to finishing 53rd on the Race to Dubai.
The young South Africans will be up against a strong European and Asian Tour presence in Mauritius, which includes 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, who is also co-designing the second championship golf course at Heritage Resorts; 2011 Open champion and 2014 European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke; Ryder Cup players Jamie Donaldson of Wales and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, French duo Raphael Jacquelin and Romain Langasque; and multiple European Tour winners SSP Chawrasia of India and Australia’s Scott Hend.
