SA GOLFER OF THE YEAR NAMED

At the Grand Roche Hotel in Cape Town, the annual BMW Golf Digest Awards were held, naming Rory Sabbatini the South African golfer of the year.

Also, a number of other player awards were given, and the top 10 golf courses announced.

Being not only ranked the number one golfer in South Africa, Sabbatini has also made his way into the list of the top 10 ranked golfers in the world.

Sabbatini was unfortunately not present at the ceremony to accept his award in person, but this did not stop the audience from giving him great praise for his outstanding achievements in the past year with a roaring applause.  Rory Sabbatini was the only South African to have a win on the 2007 PGA tour.

Other awards which were handed out at the ceremony include:

• Best young professional – Louis Oosthuizen
• Senior player of the year – Denis Watson
• Most improved player on the Sunshine Tour – Adilson da Silva
• Amateur of the year – Louis de Jager
• Breakthrough player of the year – James Kamte
• Woman golfer of the year – Ashleigh Simon
• Best round of the year – Marc Cayeux
• Newcomer of the year – George Coetzee
• Comeback player of the year – Ulrich van den Berg

The year 2007 has seen many great things happening in the world of golf in South Africa, with a number of surprises, tears and joy, and the emergence of some outstanding new talent. Looking back on 2007, we can expect that the year 2008 will, when it comes to sporting great golfing highlights, only be that much better.