Sunshine Tour: ‘No time to get clever’

● There is no better time to heed golf’s great maxim “play it as it lies”, insists Sunshine Tour executive director Selwyn Nathan.

The fallout of a pandemic is the hand golf, and the world, has been dealt and Nathan urged those who will be involved in the restart of the Sunshine Tour to get on with it.

“This is not the time to get clever,” came the sage advice from a long-serving sheriff of the local game.

Nathan, who recently relinquished the duties of CEO of the Tour to Thomas Abt, wants players and officials to abide by protocols put in place that allow for the staging of the Joburg Open, the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the SA Open over the coming weeks.

“Thomas briefed players last Monday. He told them what a wonderful example golf can be if they behave themselves.

“We’ll have two labs on site at every venue. We’ll have a three- to four-hour turnaround [for test results].

“They are going to live in a bubble and everyone will be tested.

“It is important for us to create an environment for people to come here and play, and it is important for us to send those pictures around the world so that as it becomes safer SA will be one of the destinations people would want to come to.”

The safety and the health of the players hasn’t been the Sunshine Tour’s only focus. Despite the lockdown, Nathan explained, the players will also find the game in rude health.

“We worked hard the last two years on our retention. Keeping the tour in a healthy position. We really could not have done it without our sponsors.

“You don’t realise it until you get a crisis like this, that you have a board of directors that are in it for the game.

“I don’t want to talk about other associations but we’ve had this board for about 20 years and we have not paid any directors’ fees. We don’t pay for people to go anywhere. That’swhy when you get into a situation like this you realise how healthy your business is.”

The Tour will be in an even better position if they can attract strong 156-man fields for the three tournaments.

“We are hoping for the support of all the South Africans overseas. Some might not be able to,” said Nathan, who added the staging of the Masters in the week preceding the Joburg Open may be a blessing.

“It is quite easy to get here from Atlanta [Augusta is three hours from there]. It’s a direct flight they could get on, on the Sunday evening, and be here Monday afternoon at four o’clock.

“All our guys who are playing in Europe can also get here easily.”

It is important to have an environment people will come and play in