News: Els blog
May 14 2012
11:38 am
Els blog: Too many missed fairways
Ernie Els is writing a blog for PGATOUR.COM this year and this is his most recent installment. For more information on Els, visit www.ernieels.com.
As I was saying in my previous update THE PLAYERS Championship is one of those tournaments where I’ve not really had much success, just four top-10s in my previous 18 appearances. Well, my 19th appearance didn’t set that record straight. I don’t know. It’s a wonderful golf course but there is something about it that I just can’t seem to get to grips with. I didn’t play too badly, but after a pair of 74s that was me done for the week. If I had to put my finger on one thing it was my driving. I didn’t hit enough fairways, which makes it tough to score here. Very disappointing, but there you go.
On a brighter note, it was wonderful to be there on Wednesday night with my fellow South African golfers Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen, Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini to celebrate the career of Gary Player who was receiving the PGA TOUR’s Lifetime Achievement Award. It was a fun night and of course it is a richly well-deserved honor for Gary. He’s one of golf’s true legends, a hero of mine when I was growing up and a man I am now proud to call a great friend.
This week’s tournament in many ways celebrates the life of another legend of the game, Byron Nelson. I won the Byron Nelson in 1995, the first time I’d ever teed it up in this tournament, but this will be the first time I’ve played it since 2006.
This year would have been Byron’s 100th birthday and it says a lot about the man that his legacy still endures on the PGA TOUR today. He was a real gentleman and I count myself blessed to have got to know him and enjoyed his company over dinner a few times. Winning the tournament all those years ago and talking to Byron afterwards is still one of the standout memories of my professional career.
As many of you golf fans will know, the HP Byron Nelson Championship used to be played on two golf courses the first couple of days – the TPC Four Seasons Resort, the tougher of the pair, and Cottonwood Valley where I shot a course record 61 on the way to winning the tournament 17 years ago. Then at the weekend we’d play TPC both days. They changed that format in 2008 and now all four rounds are on the TPC layout.
When I think back over the years my record in this tournament has been pretty strong. As I said, I won here in 1995 and I’ve got quite a few top-10s under my belt. The TPC is a good test of golf and has statistically one of the most demanding opening stretches of holes on the PGA TOUR. Hitting fairways is very tough, so I’ll have to step it up a bit from my performance at Sawgrass last week. The rough tends to be quite severe here as well, so fairways and greens is really the name of the game.
If it’s calm then players will go pretty low this week. But this is Texas, remember, and it can get windy. That means playing conditions become more challenging. You need to be able to hit a lot of different shots, use the wind or hold shots up against it. You have to use your imagination and I’ve always kind of liked that.
Let’s see how we go.
News: Els blog
May 8 2012
9:58 am
Els blog: I’m ‘extremely motivated’
Ernie Els will be writing a blog for PGATOUR.COM during the 2012 season. This is his latest installment. For more information on Els, visit ernieels.com.
Last week started with Liezl and I attending a wonderful function at the famous Bel-Air Country Club over in Los Angeles where we were proud and honored to receive an award from the Friends of Golf for our charitable efforts these past 10-15 years. It was a special day for both of us.
The organization Friends of Golf was established in 1979 with the purpose of supporting programs for young golfers. You could say it has a similar kind of ethos to what we have at the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation (EEFF) established in 2000 with the aim of identifying and assisting talented young golfers from families with limited resources and giving them opportunities in education and golf. It’s been a huge success. Among our former pupils are Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, a three-time winner on the European Tour this season. Also countless other EEFF members have gone on to further education and careers.
Staying on the charitable theme for a moment, it’s great to see that the 2012 Els for Autism Golf Challenge is now up and running. This is its second year and the aim is to raise more funds for a proposed Els Center of Excellence, based in Florida but with a global reach through its innovative digital learning platform. The series teed off last month at Aviara Golf Club, followed by well-attended events at Doral and Congressional. The next two events are at PGA West in La Quinta on May 21 and at my home club the Bear’s Club in Florida on June 2. They are sure to be popular, too. Why not come along and join the fun?
In fact, we have a fantastic schedule of regional tournaments running between now and September with opportunities to play some of the best golf courses in America and also win a place at the Grand Finale in Las Vegas later this year. As well as having a lot of fun and competing for some great prizes you’ll be contributing to a charitable cause that is very close to my heart. I really hope you can join us at some point this summer.
Okay, moving on to the day job as they say. This week’s PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass is the start of a run of four straight tournaments for me. After this week it’s the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Texas, then it’s over to England for the first time this year at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, after which I fly back to Ohio for the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village. I then have a week off and play the U.S. Open at the fantastic Olympic Club in San Francisco. Of course these are all big tournaments and I’m extremely motivated to play some good golf, get myself right in the mix and hopefully register my first win of the season.
Let’s just focus for now on THE PLAYERS Championship, though. This is about as big as it gets outside of a major championship or World Golf Championships event. It will be my 19th appearance in this event and I have only four top-10s to show for it, but I like the golf course and always look forward to teeing it up here. There is always a really strong field – this year only Bubba (Watson) is missing from the world’s top-10 – and it has that buzz of something a little bit special.
Pete Dye’s Stadium Course is obviously one of the best-known layouts on the PGA TOUR and it has undoubtedly one of the most famous par 3s in golf. Overall it is a real ball-strikers’ golf course. It’s not one of the longer courses we play on the PGA TOUR but it punishes you if you make even half-a-mistake. There is so little margin for error on a lot of the holes. You need to be patient and sometimes you need to play the percentages and make par your friend. Solid golf gets you good rewards here.
Anyway, the key I think is you have to hit it in the fairways, because the way this course sets up these days it usually plays firm and fast. You need to be hitting your approach shots from the ‘short stuff’ in order to have control of your golf ball. My long game has been in good shape these past few months, and I’ve always felt like a lot of the tee shots here suit my eye, so I’m quietly optimistic. Shooting four good, solid rounds of golf is my primary goal. We’ll see where that leaves me on Sunday afternoon.
That’s it for now. I’ll write again soon.
News: Els blog
April 30 2012
2:37 pm
Els blog: Feeling like the ‘old me’
Ernie Els will be writing a blog for PGATOUR.COM this year. Here is his most recent installment. For more information on Els, visit www.wrnieels.com.
Like I said in last week’s website report, maybe visiting the ‘Big Easy’ was a good omen after all. I had a really good week in New Orleans in my first appearance in the Zurich Classic for 10 years. The support from the galleries I had all week was just fantastic and I had a lot of fun out there. I’ll definitely be coming back.
Obviously it felt great to play four nice rounds in the 60s and hit the ball so well. Of course I’m also a little disappointed, especially as I had a putt to win the tournament and winning is what it’s all about for me. Always has been, to be honest. But overall I’m very pleased with the way I played. I’m pleased for Jason as well. I’ve played a lot of golf with him and he’s a wonderful guy and he’s got a really sound golf game. He has a bit more cash to spend on his honeymoon now.
On Thursday I made a nice start with a bunch of birdies on my front nine. Actually, it was a pretty tough day for scoring out there. I just kept at it and was happy to shoot 66. Just the start I needed. I had an early tee time on Friday so I was itching to get out there and build on that and get myself in good shape going into the weekend.
Friday was just another really comfortable round of golf. I was hitting it solid, giving myself plenty of chances and holing a few putts, including a clutch 10-footer for par on my final hole to sign off with a 68. That felt nice. Loving this golf course, too. Pete Dye has always been one of my favorite designers and courses like TPC Louisiana just seem to fit my eye. I was enjoying myself out there.
By the weekend scoring was becoming a little bit more difficult, with the golf course getting firmer and faster, but I played nicely again on Saturday. At 14 under I was in a good position going into Sunday’s final round. It was going to be an interesting day and I was definitely up for it.
I was chatting with my caddie Ricci Roberts on Sunday morning and we had in mind to try to get to 20 under. That was our target. That’s what we thought might be the winning score. It would take some good golf to get there but I liked my chances. Making eagle on the seventh didn’t do any harm, that’s for sure. By then we’d caught Jason at the top of the leaderboard, but there was a lot of golf still to play.
On the 10th tee I just said to myself, ‘Okay, let’s just play a strong back nine and see what happens.” Looking back now, if I were being super-critical I’d say I was a little disappointed in my ball-striking on the back nine and consequently I didn’t get as many chances for birdies as I’d have liked. But I made some crucial putts for par and I feel like that will be good for my mindset going forward this season. As it happened 20 under would have been the winning score. At 19 under it meant a playoff.
On the first playoff hole I hit a sweet 5-wood in there and if it had carried just another two yards it would have been perfect. As it was, it finished in the bunker. I hit a good bunker shot and gave myself a chance. I didn’t hit a great putt, though. It was more of a miss-read than anything. I thought it would hold its line better than it did.
Anyway, on the second playoff hole I didn’t hit a great drive and finished in one of Pete Dye’s little pot bunkers. I was actually fortunate to be able to get it down the fairway as far as I did but from there I didn’t make birdie and, all credit to Jason, he did.
So, mixed feelings again, I guess. I played four good rounds of golf, 19 under for 72 holes, and a bogey-free final round. That’s a lot of positives to take away from the week. The only negative is having a putt to win and missing it. I’ve had that a couple of times this year, but I can work on that. At least I’m doing good things and getting myself in a position to have those putts to win. That’s a big step up from last year.
Basically, everything about my game is starting to feel more natural, more like the old me. I’ve been around long enough to not get too cocky, but the way things have turned around – with three top-fives in my last five tournaments – I really believe I’m going to have a great rest of the season. I love this time of the year and I have some of my favorite tournaments coming right up, such as the HP Byron Nelson Championship and Memorial. I’m excited about my golf and really looking forward to teeing it up.
It’s a week off with the family for me now, so I’ll enjoy that. I’ll be back in action at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Bye for now.
News: Els blog
April 23 2012
2:17 pm
Els blog: Heading to the ‘Big Easy’
Ernie Els will be writing a weekly blog for PGATOUR.COM this year. For more information on the World Golf Hall of Famer, visit www.ernieels.com. 
Last week marked the 100-day countdown to the start of the 2012 London Olympics, which is exciting I think for all sports fans. The greatest sporting event on earth only comes round every four years and on this occasion for me it’s going to be especially significant and even more of a buzz, as I’m proud to have been selected as an ambassador for the South African Olympic and Paralympic teams.
As kids taking up sport we all dream big — and dreams really don’t get any bigger than representing your country in the Olympics. I’m sure I speak for all South Africans when I say that wherever we are in the world this summer, our best wishes will be with every member of our team in London. I hope some of our sports men and women get to see their biggest dreams come true. They should know that the weight of the whole nation is behind them, willing them on. I can’t wait to watch the action.
Of course, golf will be part of the Olympics at the next games in Rio in 2016, which is great news. I think for any golfer it would be an honor to play for your country and go for an Olympic gold medal. You could see what it meant to someone like Rafael Nadal when he won the tennis gold in Beijing in 2008. He’s won Grand Slams, the equivalent of golf’s major championships, and yet an Olympic Gold Medal was still a huge deal for him. I think it would be the same for the top golfers as well.
On a broader level, I also think that golf’s inclusion in the Olympics will have a massive positive impact on the game worldwide, more so than any of the majors. It will bring the game to a whole new audience and help give the game a boost at all levels, from grass roots all the way up. I don’t see any downsides. For me personally, it would have been preferable if it had happened earlier in my playing career, but I’ll still be only 46 years old when the Rio Games come around. Jack Nicklaus won the Masters at that age. No reason why I couldn’t go for an Olympic gold.
Anyway, that’s all a long way off in the future. At the forefront of my mind right now is making sure I put in a good performance at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a city known as the “Big Easy.” Maybe that’s a good omen for me! I haven’t played this tournament for 10 years and the venue for this year’s event, TPC Louisiana, wasn’t even open for play back then. It’s a Pete Dye layout and I expect it to be a tough test of golf, like all of his courses tend to be.
I’ve played a lot of good stuff these past four or five weeks, so I’ll be hoping to draw on that and have another strong week. Missing the cut in Hilton Head was a little bit out of the blue, to be honest. Straight after getting home from there I spent a lot of the week working on my game and everything feels in pretty good shape. We’ll see.
Before I sign off I just want to send my congratulations to former Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation (EEFF) member Branden Grace who at last week’s Volvo China Open became only the second golfer in European Tour history to win three times in his first season after graduating from Qualifying School. And it’s only May. We’re not even halfway through the season yet!
You’ll perhaps remember earlier in the year that Branden became only the second player ever to follow his first European Tour win straight away with another win. What a fantastic few months for him. It sends such a positive and inspiring message, not only to the current crop of EEFF members but also to all young golfers in South Africa. Like I’ve always said, if you dream big and work hard anything is possible in life.
Okay, that’s it for now. I’ll write again soon.
News: Els blog
April 16 2012
4:42 pm
Els blog: ‘Golf is like that sometimes’
Ernie Els will write a blog for PGATOUR.COM weekly during the 2012 season. For more information on Els, visit ernieels.com.
Of course it was disappointing not to be around for the weekend at Harbour Town, my first missed cut of the 2012 season. This is one of my favourite spots on the PGA TOUR and being one of the Royal Bank of Canada golfing ambassadors I kind of felt like there was an extra incentive to play well. Regardless of my performance, though, it’s great that RBC is on board here until 2016 and I thought they did a fantastic job with this historic golf tournament. I certainly look forward to coming back.
Anyway, just to recap on the week. I was amongst the early starters on Thursday and, man, it was cold out there. We had a northeast wind blowing pretty good and when you combine that with Harbour Town’s small, firm greens you have some challenging scoring conditions. I started on the 10th and was 3 over at the turn, but I came back strong on the front nine and posted a 72, which was a decent recovery.
The next day starting on the first tee I played the front nine well again, making four birdies to get to 2 under for the tournament and on the fringes of the top 10. Things were looking good, but I had a really tough back nine in challenging conditions. It was just one of those phases of play where I made a couple of mental errors, a couple of bad swings and got punished. To be honest, it’s a tough thing to explain. As I’ve said in recent website reports, my scoring pattern has been consistent these past four or five weeks. This came out of nowhere. I don’t want to make light of it, but golf is like that sometimes. You just have to forget about it and look ahead.
It certainly doesn’t alter the fact that I’m more satisfied with my game than I was, say, as recently as three or four months ago. Sitting here, posting this report and thinking ahead to a summer of golf playing some of my favorite tournaments on both sides of the Atlantic, I’m excited about my prospects of creating winning opportunities. If I do that often enough, I like to think I have the experience to finish the job.
This week I’ll be here at the house in Florida. That gives me plenty of time to work on my game, go to the gym and basically get prepared for my next tournament, which is the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana.
Before then, I just want to remind you about this year’s Els for Autism Golf Challenge, which tees off at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, Calif., on April 29. We have a fantastic schedule of regional qualifiers between now and September at some of the greatest golf courses in America – among them, in fact, is Harbour Town on Sept. 10. Each event represents an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful day’s golf while at the same time raising money for a cause that will help autistic children and young adults all over the world.
Last year was an incredible success. We raised almost $2 million in total and from the feedback we received I know everyone had a great time, especially those who made it through to the Vegas Grand Finale. I hope you can join us this year and maybe I’ll see you at this year’s final. I can promise you a weekend to remember.
Bye for now.
News: Els blog
April 10 2012
1:47 pm
Els blog: Excited to play at Hilton Head
Ernie Els is writing a blog for PGATOUR.COM. For more information on Els, visit ernieels.com.
To be honest, it was a bit of a strange experience watching the Masters on television, something I’ve not done since I was a teenager pretty much. Still, it was exciting seeing Louis Oosthuizen challenging for victory. Louis is a good friend and a former member of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation. I really thought he was going to add a Green Jacket to his Claret Jug. He’s an incredible talent and has that unflappable temperament that you need to win big tournaments. I know he’s disappointed not to have won, but he can certainly hold his head high and be proud of the way he played.
I remember when Louis won the Open at St. Andrews back in 2010. We played a practice round together earlier in the week and he was in incredible form. I wasn’t at all surprised to see him win his first major that week. Over the years he has publicly thanked me for his time at our Foundation, but he doesn’t need to. The way he has made the most of his opportunities will always be thanks enough. He’s still very young and I believe he will win more majors in his career.
Okay, so on to this week’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Links. This is one of the great venues in golf. It has been hosting this tournament since the first year in 1969, won by Arnold Palmer, and the list of past champions features many great names in golf. The tournament has a new sponsor this year, Royal Bank of Canada, a company for which I’m proud to be an ambassador. I’ve got to know the guys pretty well since our relationship began at the beginning of last year. They do a fantastic job in golf and especially with the RBC Canadian Open, where I’ll be teeing it up again in July. I’m sure they’ll do the same great job here at Harbour Town, too.
These days it is unusual to find a golf course on the PGA TOUR that measures less than 7,000 yards, but what this Pete Dye gem lacks in length it makes up for in the degree of difficulty hitting your second shots into some of the smallest greens we look at all year. This is a shot-maker’s golf course. You need to work your golf ball to score well and, when you miss one of those small greens, you need a deft touch to give yourself a chance of getting up and down. That’s always been a strong part of my game, which I guess is one of the reasons I’ve had so many top-10 finishes in this tournament.
Actually I’ve come close here a couple of times, notably in 2007 when Boo Weekley chipped-in on both of the last two greens to beat me into second place by a shot. Career-wise in my 12 starts here I’ve finished seven times inside the top-10. I really like the golf course and obviously the setting is just wonderful.
This is the tournament’s traditional slot, right after the Masters, and I hear that sunshine is forecast all week. It should be great. The family is joining me here and we always rent a nice place down by the beach, go bike riding together in the evenings. It’s a nice way to wind-down after a day at the golf course. Over the years, that’s often been the kind of recipe that helps me play my best golf.
Anyway, I can’t wait to tee it up this week. I’m really looking forward to it.
Bye for now.
News: Els blog
April 2 2012
1:06 pm
Els blog: Weird week without Masters
Obviously, I’m disappointed to not be in this year’s Masters. Since I’ve been a professional at this level, I’ve always played Augusta National and enjoyed it. To be honest, it’ll be quite a weird feeling not being there.
Of course I’ll miss it, but I can’t blame the Masters committee for not inviting me. It is an invitational event and they have their reasons to invite somebody or not. So yes it’s a little bit sad that an 18-year streak has come to an end, but I have only myself to blame. I put myself in this position by not playing well last year and that’s that. It’s not going to change my life. It’s just one of those things. I’ll be back there next year.
As I said last week, what’s more important to me just now is the fact I’ve succeeded in turning my game around. I’ve had to dig very deep, but I really feel like the hard work is paying off. I went into Houston on the back of two top-five finishes and continued that kind of form there to shoot four good, solid rounds of golf.
All week I wasn’t allowing myself to even think about the Masters. I just wanted to have a good tournament. Basically, my goal was to play the Shell Houston Open as good as I could and then on Sunday try to get myself into a position to win the golf tournament. I pretty much achieved that goal. I made only two bogeys all week and shot 70, 69, 69, 70 to finish in a tie for 12th place.
The pattern of my play – my competitive rhythm, as I like to call it – is so much better now than it was last year and my scores are reflecting that. My stroke average on the PGA TOUR for my last 12 rounds is 69.42. All my other performance stats are heading in the right direction, too. Having had a really frustrating 12 months I’m finally taking my range game on to the course and producing some quality golf.
That’s why any disappointment that I might be feeling this week about missing the Masters is more than outweighed by my sense of optimism about the state of my game. It’s only the first week of April and I have a long season ahead of me with lots of great tournaments to look forward to. And you know something, I genuinely feel like I can win any time I tee it up right now. That’s exciting.
Okay, that’s about it for this update. I’ll write again next week before I make my way to Hilton Head for the RBC Heritage on the famous Harbour Town Links – one of my favourite stops on the PGA TOUR. Between now and then I’ll be working hard on my game to help give myself the best chance of getting right back in the mix again.
Bye for now.
News: Els blog
March 26 2012
10:33 am
Els blog: Exciting to be in mix again
Ernie Els will write a blog for PGATOUR.COM weekly during the 2012 season. For more information on Els, visit ernieels.com.
Having some fun in the Tavistock Cup was probably the best thing for me after the disappointment of a near miss at the Transitions Championship. It was good to share some camaraderie and banter with the guys and shooting 5 under on the second day was a nice way to sign off. I made some putts and left Lake Nona feeling a lot better than I had done when I arrived. Anyway, by the time I got to Bay Hill I was over what had happened at Innisbrook and looking forward to a great week.
And I felt even better still after rounds of 71, 70 and a really strong 67 on Saturday got me into a nice position going into the final round. It was exciting to be right in the mix again. That’s where you want to be every time you tee it up.
Shooting a final-round 75 to fall off the pace was obviously massively frustrating. Again I was pleased with my ball striking, but on the greens I was awful. I could have probably shot 5 under out there on Sunday if I had putted anything like I did the first couple of days. It wasn’t like I didn’t have my share of chances. On reflection I think I was a little tentative and that was the most disappointing thing.
You might say tied-fourth is pretty good, but as with the previous week this was a bit of a bittersweet result. To be honest, over the weekend at Bay Hill I wasn’t even thinking about the Masters. It’s such a great tournament in its own right and I was just trying to focus on playing a good round of golf and getting some confidence going. I have to take the same attitude into this week’s Shell Houston Open.
This is another really good tournament and in many ways the perfect course to play the week leading up to the Masters. It is always in unbelievably good shape and although there’s nothing quite like Augusta, the way they set up the course in Houston presents a similar kind of test. It’s a big golf course with firm, fast greens and not much rough to speak of. It’s a proper championship golf course in every way from tee to green.
Qualification for the Masters through the top 50 in the world ranking is no longer an option for me, so I need to win here to secure my place at Augusta. I’m playing good golf now, so obviously it will be great if I’m there. If I’m not, so be it. I’m just glad my game is coming around. So whatever happens this week, I really feel now like I can have a good year. I feel like the hard work is paying off.
Before I sign off I just want to say a heartfelt thanks to all the people who took the time to write in to the website last week offering me support and encouragement. We were quite overwhelmed with the number of messages; there were so many in fact that it’s impossible to reply to them all individually. You should know, however, that your kind words and thoughts really mean a lot to me.
Also, we have a new feature on the website starting this week, a live scoring feed courtesy of the PGA TOUR. Click on the main banner image on the homepage and you can keep track of my progress, shot-by-shot, hole-by-hole, in real time. We’ll make sure it’s available every time I tee it up in a PGA TOUR event or major championship.
Okay that’s it for now. I’ll write again soon.
News: Els blog
March 19 2012
3:27 pm
Els blog: Focusing on positives
Ernie Els will write a blog for PGATOUR.COM weekly during the 2011 season. For more information on Els, visit ernieels.com.
I’ve said throughout my career that whenever I tee it up I always play to win, so any time I get the opportunity to do that and don’t get the job done, obviously I’m disappointed and angry with myself. That pretty much summed up my emotions on Sunday evening. I was so hot I found it difficult to even think straight. I’ve had a night to sleep on it, though. It still hurts the way I finished the tournament, but I know in my heart how well I played all week. I have to believe that if I keep doing what I’m doing, the results will reflect that and I’ll give myself plenty more opportunities to win.
The thing is, if at the start of the week you’d have offered me rounds of 70, 67, 68 and 67 for a 12-under total I’d have liked the sound of that. But that putt on 18…well, it kind of leaves a nasty taste. It’s a difficult green, but I should have made it. I was trying to jam it in there and I just pulled it, simple as that.
It’s a tough deal, but I have to take stock and try to see the positives. This was one of my best performances on the PGA TOUR since 2010. I drove the ball well, topped the greens in regulation for the week and I was right up there in the number of birdies made. I made some nice putts, too. All you can do, as I said before, is keep playing well, keep putting in the work and keep putting yourself in a position to win.
If I’m going to secure my place in the Masters I may have to win, or at least come very close, in one of my next two tournaments. I’m at Bay Hill this week and then Houston straight after that. The nice thing is I’ll go into both of those tournaments knowing my game is pretty much right where I need it to be in order to compete and get in the mix again. And next time I like to think I can finish the job off.
Moving away from tournament golf for a moment there are a couple of other things I want to talk about. Last week’s Els for Autism Pro-Am was a huge success. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support of everyone who gets involved in this: the TOUR pros, the amateurs and the sponsors. In the four years since we started this event it has raised around $3 million. It helps bring us a step closer to opening the Els for Autism Center of Excellence, which I anticipate will be operational by 2015.
In other news our team from Ernie Els Design has been displaying at the China Golf Show and took that opportunity to make a big announcement about some exciting new projects for our company in Malaysia. Construction has begun on two major golf course developments, an 18-hole course at the eco-destination resort Teluk Datai in Langkawi and a 27-hole layout at the much-anticipated upcoming integrated luxury destination Desaru Coast in Johor. We’re working in partnership with Destination Resorts, established and supported by the Malaysian government.
As a course designer, I feel so fortunate to be working with Destination Resorts and to be awarded with some of the most beautiful terrain in Asia. I’ve visited the site with our head of design Greg Letsche. Together we all share the same vision. I am confident our work here will set a new standard, leaving a lasting legacy for Malaysian golfers and the region as a whole. It’s an exciting time for us. Our design team is also providing technical services for another project at Desaru Coast, an 18-hole course for Vijay Singh. Construction work is due to start there in the summer.
Anyway, that’s about all I have time for right now. This would normally be a day off for me, as I get ready to play my next tournament, but this Monday and Tuesday I’m playing in the Tavistock Cup just down the road at Lake Nona. This used to be a two-team event between Lake Nona and Isleworth, until last year when they drafted in two new teams, Albany in the Bahamas and Queenwood in England.
We always have a fantastic bunch of guys playing in this and the camaraderie among the players is great. My old team, Lake Nona, took the honors last year with a pretty spectacular aggregate of 43 under. My new team Albany was in second place on 27 under. Not the closest contest we’ve ever seen, it must be said!
Still, charity continues to be the big winner in this event. I believe the total raised in the eight years we’ve been playing the Tavistock Cup is in excess of $6 million. That kind of money goes a long way to helping a lot of people in need. I know I speak for all the players when I say it’s gratifying to be a part of that.
Okay, got to go now. I’ll write again soon.
News: Els blog
March 12 2012
6:06 pm
Els blog: Pro-Am, then back to business
Ernie Els will write a blog for PGATOUR.COM weekly during the 2012 season. For more information on Els, visit ernieels.com. Here is his latest installment.
In this week’s website diary I’m really proud to be able to talk to you about the fourth annual Els for Autism Pro-Am, taking place this Monday at the fantastic PGA National in Florida. On Sunday night we had the pairings party and dinner, which included a Q&A session with me, Jack Nicklaus, Justin Leonard and Geoff Ogilvy. Thanks guys for taking part. The whole night was a lot of fun.
The main action takes place on Monday, though, with a Pro-Am followed by a dinner and awards ceremony later. As in previous years we have 20 four-person teams consisting of three amateurs and a professional. And again as in previous years we are blessed to have the support of some of the game’s greatest players.
How about this for a line-up: Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Adam Scott, Luke Donald, K.J. Choi, Steve Marino, Dustin Johnson, Robert Allenby, Justin Leonard, Geoff Ogilvy, Keegan Bradley, Bruce Fleischer, Camilo Villegas, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Baker-Finch, Mark Calcavecchia, Brett Quigley and Greg Chalmers. Including me that makes a total of 10 major champions, four former World No.1s and heaven knows how many worldwide tournament victories between us. It’s almost like a mini-PGA TOUR event! I’m so grateful to all of them for taking part.
We’re playing the Champion Course, which hosts The Honda Classic every year and is still in phenomenal shape having had the tournament only a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to everyone at PGA National for hosting us again. It really means a lot to us. I want to say thanks also to Marvin Shanken, our good friend and publisher of magazines such as Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado. Marvin was the original driving force behind this event and as Chairman of the Els for Autism Foundation he continues to play an invaluable role in our fundraising efforts.
With the combined support of the players, sponsors and, of course, the 60 amateurs who generously enter this event every year, the Els for Autism Pro Am has now become a firm fixture on the golfing calendar. Together we’ve raised more than $2 million in the first three years. This year’s event will take us over the $3 million mark. That’s amazing. The Els Center of Excellence is fast becoming a reality, which is a great feeling. It is going to literally change the lives of people on the autism spectrum.
Anyway, we’ll have more news and photos from the Els for Autism Pro-Am on the website this week. In the meantime, I just have time to fill you in on the rest of this week’s events. I’m entered into the Transitions Championship at the Innisbrook Resort and on Tuesday I’ll drive over to Tampa and start my preparations.
You know the situation for me right now. I’m committed to playing the next three weeks straight – that’s Transitions, Bay Hill and Texas – to try to secure my spot in the Masters. I’ve been going to Augusta National for almost 20 years. It’s a very special week and obviously I really don’t want to miss out.
Let’s just take it one week at a time, though. As I think I said in my previous website report, all through my career I’ve turned up to tournaments with just one objective — play to win. That mindset hasn’t changed and I still believe I have the game to do that. If I didn’t, trust me, I wouldn’t be out here.
Okay, I’ll write again soon.
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