Month: November 2022

Belgium’s Thomas Detry, one of the most exciting new stars on the PGA Tour, has confirmed his place in a quality field for the 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Mont Choisy Le Golf from 15-18 December.

 

The 29-year-old Detry will join fellow PGA Tour campaigner Dean Burmester, DP World Tour champions George Coetzee, Brandon Stone and Antoine Rozner, Matthieu Pavon who finished second in this event in 2018, the big-hitting Wilco Nienaber, and former European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjørn.

 

Detry heads to Mauritius at the end of a strong year for the young professional in which he finished in the top-12 in three of the five PGA Tour events he played in his rookie season there – including second place in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship – and also had six top-15 finishes on the DP World Tour. He challenged for the title in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City before finishing tied 13^th.

 

This will be Detry’s second appearance in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open after he finished tied fourth in 2019, and he continues a tradition of young stars who had success in this tournament during their global rise in the game. The last two winners of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open – Rasmus Højgaard and Kurt Kitayama – have both been at the forefront of the new generation of professionals on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

 

The 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open returns to the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour schedules for the first time since 2019 following the Covid-19 pandemic and has drawn a glittering array of blue-chip sponsors including Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels, Mont Choisy Group, Jaguar, Rogers, Heritage Resorts, IBL, the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), 3G Mobile, Phoenix Beverages, Air Mauritius, Mautourco, Fenix XCell Apparel, Hertz, Jacobs, C-Care, Emtel and PRO CARTS.

The spectacular Mont Choisy Le Golf will make its international tournament debut on the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour schedules when it hosts the 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open for the first time during 15-18 December, and golf course designer Peter Matkovich is excited about a course he says will present a fair and exciting challenge for the world’s professionals.

 

“I think our team did an incredible job in creating a golf course that we love, and which the members and owners are also very happy with. It looks very natural and we’ve used the black volcanic rock that is a feature in the north of the island to create this beautiful contrast with the green grass,” Matkovich said of the only 18-hole championship course in the northern region of Mauritius.

 

Matkovich’s love for this golf course began almost 16 years ago when he first walked the magnificent Allée des Flamboyants walkway which leads to the Mont Choisy Golf and Beach Estate and envisioned a golf course there.

 

“It was a special place for me in Mauritius. It was a challenge designing and building the golf course to get the right balance with the volcanic rock, and to also conserve the topsoil and water of the area which is very scarce. The shaping team did an incredible job, and the landscaping team has also ensured that the golf course blends superbly with its environment. My philosophy is to bring golf back into golf course design and we achieved that here with a golf course that places as much emphasis on strategy as it does on the experience.”

 

Jyoti Jeetun, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Mont Choisy Group, believes Mont Choisy Le Golf will make a tremendous impact as the home of the 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

 

“Peter and his team at Peter Matkovich Design have done a wonderful job in creating a course that is a visual splendour as well as a delight to play, for both our members and the professionals. Set between the iconic town of Grand Baie and Mon Choisy Beach, it is going to be a privilege for us to showcase this magnificent course to an international audience and the way it complements the ‘Once in a Lifestyle’ proposition the beautiful Mont Choisy Golf and Beach Estate has to offer.”

 

As a challenge for the professionals, Matkovich and his team have created a golf course that is not overly long at 6 447 metres and with a blend of tough holes offset by some exciting driveable par fours.

 

“I think in December at the time of the tournament the golf course should play hard and fast, which is what we’d like. I do believe we’ll see good scores from the professionals.”

 

The 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open returns to the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour schedules for the first time since 2019 following the Covid-19 pandemic and has drawn a glittering array of blue-chip sponsors including Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels, Mont Choisy Group, Jaguar, Rogers, Heritage Resorts, IBL, the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), 3G Mobile, Phoenix Beverages, Air Mauritius, Mautourco, Fenix Apparel and Hertz.