Author: Neil Whitehorn

 

The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open will return to the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour schedules for the first time since 2019 at a celebrated new world-class host venue this December.

 

The sixth edition of this Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned tournament will break new ground when it travels to the northern region of the island for the first time and to the championship golf course of Mont Choisy Le Golf from 15-18 December 2022.

 

Mauritius will also be the grand finale of a strong conclusion to 2022 for the Sunshine Tour. The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open will be played at the end of a four-week run of premier Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned events that begins in Johannesburg and ends on the island, featuring a selection of the finest professionals from both tours.

 

“We are delighted to make our return to the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour, and more importantly to be the catalyst for bringing the largest sporting event of the region to Mauritius for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open is an important contributor to the Mauritian economy with a spillover effect to key sectors such as the tourism and financial services to name a few. This tournament, broadcast worldwide, always draws a strong field and plenty of international interest and remains a source of great national pride,” said Thierry Vallet, Founder Executive and Interim CEO of AfrAsia Bank.

 

The 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open has once again drawn a glittering array of blue-chip sponsors, including Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels which is a premier accommodation partner to the tournament through its eight resorts in Mauritius.

 

“The Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels Group is firmly entrenched in the history of Mauritius, and we are proud to partner with the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and help to stimulate the Mauritius tourism industry as we have done since 1962. As the leading hotel group in Mauritius, we are ready to open the doors of our award-winning resorts to the field of international golfers as well as the spectators traveling from abroad to spend this memorable week with us,” said Gilbert Espitalier-Noel, CEO of Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels Group.

 

Mont Choisy Le Golf will make its debut as the host of this year’s tournament, which travels to the magnificent Grand Baie region for the first time.

 

“It is a privilege for Mont Choisy Le Golf to host the 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and make our own bit of history in this event. As the only 18-hole championship golf course in the North, we look forward to welcoming the international field to our Peter Matkovich-designed golf course and trust they will enjoy the golf course as well as their week spent in the most prestigious address in Grand Baie at the Mont Choisy Golf and Beach Estate,” said Jyoti Jeetun, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Mont Choisy Group.

 

With a global television broadcast to almost 400 million homes, the 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open will play a key role in reigniting the local tourism industry following the disruption caused by the global pandemic.

 

“I am delighted to see the return of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. Mauritius has a strong golf tradition stretching back over 150 years, and the nation is home to some of the best golf courses in the world. We will once more welcome some of the best players in the game to compete at this prestigious event, as well as golf fans who will be there to cheer them on,” said Arvind Bundhun, Director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA).

 

Both the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour welcomed the return of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open to their schedules as part of the Strategic Alliance between the two Tours announced last year which builds on a relationship which dates more than quarter of a century. The return of the two Tours to Mauritius is the continuation of a history of professional golf excellence that has seen four-time Major winner Ernie Els, 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, 2011 Open Champion and 2016 European Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke, 2018 European Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Björn, and a host of former Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup players compete in this event in the past.

 

Ben Cowen, Chief Tournament Business Officer of the DP World Tour, said: “We are extremely pleased for the beautiful island of Mauritius and for our partners at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open to be able to announce the return of this unique event to our DP World Tour international schedule as part of our Strategic Alliance with the Sunshine Tour. It has been a popular event with our members ever since the tournament launched in 2015, and following the challenges of Covid-19, we are looking forward to celebrating its resumption at a new venue in Mont Choisy as part of our 2023 schedule.”

 

Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour, said: “It’s been a challenging time for the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, as it has for all of us in world golf. The return of this magical tournament is a true sign that we are back to normal in the world of professional golf and we cannot wait to celebrate this with all of our partners in this event.”

 

BEL OMBRE, Mauritius (6 December 2019) – The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open celebrated its fifth anniversary as a uniquely tri-sanctioned tournament with a Three Tour Challenge between golfers from the European Tour, Sunshine Tour and Asian Tour at the Heritage Golf Club before the start of this year’s tournament.

Germany’s Marcel Siem represented the European Tour against South Africa’s Toto Thimba from the Sunshine Tour and India’s Shubhankar Sharma from the Asian Tour. The three golfers were tasked with the challenge of nominating a club and then attempting to chip from about 30 yards away and to a target area around the hole. Appropriately for a tournament played in an island paradise, the chipping area was identified by two coconuts as “tee markers”.

But the challenge was that once a club had been nominated, they were not allowed to use that club again. “You use it, you lose it,” was how Siem summed up the rules of play for his opponents. A ball that stopped in the target areas was worth one point, and a holed-out shot worth 10.

Round One ended without a single point scored by any of the players, with the sloping green and tricky pin placement proving quite a challenge in terms of stopping the ball in the target area around the hole.

But in Round Two, Sharma made the breakthrough when he scored a point using a pitching wedge. It proved decisive as no player was able to match that through the remaining two rounds, although Siem came inches close to an equaliser with a five iron in the fourth and final round.

“It was a lot of fun and a great way to celebrate having the three tours here,” said Siem.

Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Pieters, two golfers who both made Ryder Cup history, are the latest to confirm their participation in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at the Heritage Golf Club from 5-8 December.

Colsaerts, an ambassador with the Anahita Golf and Spa Resort which shares the hosting of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open with Heritage Golf Club every alternate year, is the most recent European Tour winner to sign up for this €1 million tri-sanctioned tournament between the European Tour, Sunshine Tour and Asian Tour.

The big-hitting Belgian ended a seven-year title drought when he won the Amundi Open de France in October for his third European Tour title.

Colsaerts’ victory in France was a welcome return to the form he displayed when he became the first Belgian golfer in history to play in The Ryder Cup in 2012. He was instrumental in the European team’s 14½ – 13½ victory over the United States that year and in what has been dubbed “The Miracle at Medinah”.

Pieters made an equally historic Ryder Cup debut as a member of the European team for the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine. Despite being beaten 17-11 by the United States, Pieters announced himself as a new star on one of the biggest stages in golf when he became the first European rookie to win four points on his Ryder Cup debut. He has also been in winning form this year, securing his fourth European Tour title at the D+D Real Czech Masters in August.

The Belgian duo join a field that already includes Indian star Shubhankar Sharma, Benjamin Hebert, who is currently the leading player from France on the Race to Dubai in 17^th position, and European Amateur champion Matthias Schmid. Schmid will make his debut in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open as one of the most exciting young talents in world golf. The 21-year-old became only the second German golfer to win the European Amateur Championship at the Diamond Country Club in Austria in June. His three-stroke victory – including a course record nine-under-par 63 in the third round – saw him join a list of golf’s biggest names to have won this title, including Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia.

The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open celebrates its fifth anniversary this year as a unique coalition between three of the largest professional tours in world golf, and with a global television broadcast that reaches 400 million homes worldwide.

India’s Shubhankar Sharma has confirmed his participation in the upcoming AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at the Heritage Golf Club from 5-8 December 2019, and at a time when Indian golfers are moving closer to a maiden victory in this tri-sanctioned tournament between the European Tour, Asian Tour and Sunshine Tour.

Sharma has led a resurgence in Indian golf over the past two years. He won two European Tour titles in the space of three months, including becoming at the age of 21 the youngest Indian to win on the European Tour with his Joburg Open triumph in December 2017.

In 2018 he became only the fourth Indian golfer to ever play in The Masters, and his rise on the world stage saw him also named the European Tour’s 2018 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year and crowned the 2018 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion.

Sharma’s meteoric career path has been matched by strong performances from his countrymen in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in the last two years.

In the 2017 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Heritage Golf Club, the experienced Arjun Atwal lost in a playoff to Dylan Frittelli. A year later, Chikkarangappa S. finished second to American Kurt Kitayama, and said Sharma had definitely inspired this new generation of Indian golfers.

“Shubhankar has really shown the way for a lot of Indian youngsters. As Indian golfers we’re now out in the world and playing with the best. Jeev Milkha Singh told us there were only four or five Indian golfers on tour during his time. Now we have closer to 25, and about 15 of us holding a full card on the Asian Tour and a couple on the European Tour,” he said.