The Fortress Invitational will celebrate its second season on the Sunshine Tour with a new 72-hole format, an increase in prize money and a bigger field including South Africa’s most promising young stars coming together on the historic fairways of Glendower Golf Club in a month’s time.
The growth of the tournament will also play a key role in the new Fortress Rookie of the Year battle, with the next generation of Sunshine Tour talent also chasing the R200 000 bonus awarded by the logistics real estate powerhouse to the leading rookie at the end of the current season.
This incentive is open to those who earned their Sunshine Tour card for the 2023/24 season by way of the Qualifying School, the Altron Vusi Ngubeni Development Tournament, the Blue Label Development Tour and the Altron Big Easy Tour. The Fortress Rookie of the Year will be crowned at the Sunshine Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship.
The tough Glendower Golf Club, the country’s eighth-ranked course and a host of several prestigious amateur and professional tournaments, stands in their way as a worthy new home for a tournament which is also fast entrenching itself on the Sunshine Tour schedule.
“Our partnership with the Sunshine Tour is based on our beliefs of powering growth. We believe in our local players and their drive to succeed, and welcome friends and family from far and wide to witness the unearthing of new talent and the growth of greatness. This is an unforgiving course, with a hotly contested field, and with free entrance for spectators throughout we’re in for a real treat of sublime golf,” said Steven Brown, CEO of Fortress Real Estate.
The list of early entries for the 2022 Fortress Invitational includes the experience of Daniel van Tonder (2021 SA Open winner), Neil Schietekat (FBC Zimbabwe Open winner) and Hennie Otto (SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City) as well as other champions this year such as Robson Chinhoi (Zanaco Masters), Louis Albertse (KitKat Cash and Carry Pro-Am) and leading rookies Jonathan Broomhead and Gerhard Pepler.
“We’re delighted to see the growth of the Fortress Invitational in such a short space of time. This is a reflection of their passion for golf and belief in the future potential and greatness that is inherent to the Sunshine Tour. This year’s tournament will indeed be a celebration of this growth and a tangible indication of what happens when talent meets opportunity,” said Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour.
The “Beat the Pro” challenge will be another exciting feature at the tournament, and fans can register at www.sunshinetour.com/beat-the-pro to see if they can beat the tee shots of the professionals and win a trip to Mauritius.
