There was a stage last year when it looked dead and buried. Gary Player was a villain of monumental proportion, wedged somewhere between Skeletor and Lord Voldemort in evil index, and his annual charity golf soiree in tandem with Nelson Mandela — an event that had raised a cool R6-million the previous year — was scrapped, after a concerted broadside from Nelson Mandela's Children's Fund. One splendid celebration of golf and philanthropy, scuttled by a lethal combination of ego and self-interest; all the more reason to beam proudly at Fancourt this weekend, then, as an incredible South African bounced back with a new-look event that's only going to get stronger.

The old Nelson Mandela Invitational is now, thanks to the Children's Fund (a truly visionary lot) simply the Gary Player Invitational, tying in with the Black Knight's events in China, England and the United States; but while the name may changed, the ethos remains firmly in place. Celebrities, businessmen and some rather decent golfers uniting for a couple of rounds of competitive but good natured competition, and a large sum of money raised for the Gary Player Foundation — and the South African children that the foundation supports — along the way.

Fancourt, the new venue for the GPI, was awash with familiar faces from tournaments past, including estate agent Andrew Golding; Matthew Pearce reminded me of Gary Teichmann's comment after playing with Golding a few years back at Arabella. "Andrew's a true professional," Teich said very dryly. "He showed me every property on the course". No property at The Links for Golding to hit this time, but still a tough course — or at least it usually is. This weekend's scores suggest otherwise.

Over 36 holes, a winning score in an alliance competition should see the winning team comfortably under par, particularly when the winning team includes a double Major winner. But to finish 35-under-par is jaw-dropping stuff; the last time I saw a fourball finish at 35-under, it was Schabir, Chippy, Mo and Yunus Schaik at the Fidentia Open a couple of years ago. Retief Goosen is hitting the ball wonderfully, and putting better than he has for a while, and Costantino Rocca has Tiger's scalp from the 1997 Ryder Cup on his golfing CV, but it was Spanish model and actress Ines Sastre, back for the second time, who led the victorious charge, finishing 12-over par on day two, but off a handicap of 22. Might be time to review that Spanish handicapping system...

The winners were secondary to the twin aims of the GPI: raising money for charity, and having an awful lot of fun. Friday night saw plenty of charitable contributions, Ian Banner running another very slick auction, BBC presenter DJ Spoony enjoying himself enormously by raising the stakes on just about everything, before pulling out with a gleeful smile right at the death. Saturday night was the real celebration, though, Vusi Mahlasela giving a private performance, and Gary Player leaping onto the dance floor to kick start the night.

Vivian van Wyk, the former Sunshine Tour man now running Stellenbosch Golf Club, glided across the dance floor with the grace and elegance of a heavily pregnant elephant seal enduring a particularly painful labour; Schoeman, Radebe and Sanders confirmed that invitations to the next series of Strictly Come Dancing won't be arriving any time soon (Mark Fish insists that Lucas is the only black man in South Africa who can't dance); and Costantino Rocca had great fun tipping whisky into people's drinks when they weren't watching. No wonder this is the tournament everyone wants an invitation to...

Maria Verchenova was also playing, the 22-year-old Russian lining up with Player, and doing enough on the course to convince the tournament host that she has a very big future on tour; being drop dead gorgeous probably won't hurt. Together with Goose, Thomas Aiken, Rocca, Roland Rafferty, Sally Little, Bobby Lincoln, Vincent Tshabalala and John Bland, there was some stellar golf talent on show; more importantly, there was much charitable endeavour, and by the time the tournament wrapped up, a cool R3.5-million had gone the way of charity. Which, for an event that took an almighty hit a year ago, is quite an achievement — but then incredible achievements tend to come as standard when you're Gary Player.

  • George Airport was a riot last night, the village turning out in force not to see off Andrew Golding, Matthew Pearce, Tammy-Anne Fortuin and myself, but instead to welcome in the Sevens teams from Dubai for the next leg. Amongst the screaming fans, welcoming committee, and red blur of Absa cheerleaders (Matt Ellenbogen's choreography continues to be world class), the rugby players trooped into arrivals, with the Dubai champions amongst them. Great win for South Africa in the final, setting up the strong possibility of titles in successive weeks: if you're not at Sun City this weekend, then George will make a great alternative.

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za
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