Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- BMW South Africa Open (European Tour Package)

OVERVIEW
The European Tour kicks off again this week (it too had already started its own version of the swing season last calendar year) in South Africa at the BMW South Africa Open. The field is comprised mostly of South Africans as you’d expect, so naturally past leaderboards are littered with the RSA flag. The course is a tree-lined parkland course with kikuyu fairways, Bentgrass greens and is well bunkered to keep scores from getting out of hand. The course is at 5,000 feet above sea level, so the ball should fly a bit further this week for all participants, making the total yardage of the course a bit more bearable. The first cut of rough is usually thick, which puts a premium on accuracy off the tee this week as well as on approach shots. Aside from the BMWSAO, the course has also hosted The Sunshine Tour’s BMG Classic from 2009 to 2014. Notable participants in that event that are here are Darren Fichardt (2nd in 2014), Hennie Otto & Titch Moore (both 2nd in 2013), and Ulrich Van Den Berg (Winner in 2013). Of those players, Darren Fichardt is really the only player who’s done anything of note on the European Tour since DraftKings has started running Euro events.

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND
o The Course
• Glendower GC
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,600
• Greens: Bentgrass
o Location: City of Ekurhuleni, Gautend, South Africa
o Corollary Courses: None – though one could use the Tshwane Open, Joburg Open and Nedbank Challenge as comps due to similar grass types on courses in South Africa.
o Past Champions (dating back to 2010):
• 2017: Graeme Storm -18 in a playoff over Rory McIlroy
• 2016: Brandon Stone -14 over Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• 2015: Andy Sullivan -11 in a playoff over Charl Schwartzel
• 2013: Morten Orum Madsen -19 over Jbe’ Kruger & Hennie Otto
• 2012: Henrik Stenson -17 over George Coetzee

KEY STATS TO TARGET
o Strong Emphasis – Greens in Regulation, Driving Accuracy, Scrambling/Bunker play
o Important – Course History, Current Form, Driving Distance

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