|
|
|
|
 |
 |
The Nedbank Golf Challenge is an annual golf tournament played over the Gary Player Country Club Course in Sun City, South Africa. It was inaugurated in 1981 and has had several previous names. Like most high profile unofficial tournaments in professional golf it takes place between the conclusion of the PGA Tour and European Tour official schedules in early November, and Christmas. It did not count for Official World Golf Ranking points, until the 2006 event, but nonetheless it attracted many of the world's highest ranked players prior to this.
The tournament is a twelve-man invitational stroke play event. It was known as "The Million Dollar Challenge" in the early years. When it was first played in 1981 the purse was US$ 1 million, with a winner's share of $300,000. In 1987 the event was played on a "winner takes all" basis, with the winner claiming the whole of the million-dollar purse. This was designed to overcome any qualms the world's top golfers might have about competing in South Africa during the apartheid era, and it was successful in doing this in many cases. In 1988 the winner's prize was again $1million, but additional prizes were introduced. Nedbank has been the title sponsor of the event since 1994.
From 2000 to 2002 the first prize was US$2 million, which as of 2007 remains the largest tournament prize in the history of golf, from 2003 the winner's share of the total prize find was reduced from more than half to around 30%. The standard winner's share on the PGA Tour is 18% and on the European Tour it is 16.67%. In 2006 the winner received $1.2 million out of a total purse of $4.385 million, so the prize distribution is now not far from the normal pattern for a professional tournament, once allowance is made for the small size of the field.
In 2006 the tournament carried Official World Golf Ranking points for the first time.
The Nedbank Golf Challenge has its own internet site, which provides added value to the sponsors in the form of additional exposure for this event. The site provides updated information and detail of the tournament on a daily basis during the four days of live coverage. The site received in excess of 680 000 page impressions for the months of November and December 2006, with approximately 400 000 of these taking place during the four days of the event itself. Visit http://www.nedbankgolfchallenge.com
The event is televised live for four days and with a viewership of close to 1.4 billion worldwide. The tournament is broadcasted to over 140 countries.
The International golf channels include:
Australia (Fox) , Greece (Netned Hellas) , Japan (Jupiter Golf) , Singapore (StarHub) , Spain (Sogcable) , UK & Ireland (Setanta Sports) , Middle East (Showtime) , USA & Canada (The Golf Channel) , American Armed Forces Worldwide , China (Dragon Network) , Korea (SBS) and India (Sony).
Supersport, the local broadcaster within Africa and the Middle East televise the event, and they are well known for their excellent coverage and promoting of international sporting events.
Total Purse
US$ 4,385,000 with the winner receiving US$1,200,000
Selection Criteria
Defending Champion
Winner of the South African Tour Order of Merit
10 places as per the Official World Rankings after the US PGA
Spectators
+- 65 000 over the four days of the tournament
Charity Support
R1,000,000 raised for The Sports Trust annually through the Sports Trust Golf Challenge .
R1,000,000 raised for Tapologo Aids Hospice via the Nedbank Golf Challenge gate revenue .
|
|
|
|
Links:
 |
 |
Nedbank Park-It Investment Account
Manage uncertainty in the market with up to 11,55% pa....
More...
|
 |
Nedbank Sports Affinity
A Trust dedicated to community upliftment and the provision of sports...
More...
|
 |
Official Nedbank Golf Challenge Website
Sun International and Nedbank are proud to announce ...
More...
|
|
|
Forex
