Gary Player’s unparalleled legacy in the SA Open, with 13 titles across four decades, contrasts sharply with the historic 2025 victory of Dylan Naidoo, the first South African player of colour to win the tournament, highlighting the enduring impact of Apartheid on South African golf. Picture credit: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
As new hopefuls begin their quest to put their name on their trophy as the SA Open begins at Stellenbosch GC on Thursday, it’s worth noting how Gary Player dominated the tournament in his heyday.
Player won no fewer than 13 SA Open titles between 1956 and 1981, also meaning he won the event in four different decades.
Of course, Player’s victories came during the height of Apartheid, and the strength of the fields during his domination of the SA Open have been questioned.
Though not at the SA Open but at the Natal Open in 1965, Player was beaten on home soil by Papwa Sewgolum. As a non-white, Sewgolum was not allowed into the clubhouse at Durban Country Club due to the Apartheid laws. This incident is perhaps the best example of the disparity of the fortunes of players who did not have white skin under the previous regime in South Africa.
In fact, only last year did the first South African player of colour finally triumph in the SA Open. That was Dylan Naidoo, also at Durban Country Club - and it brought back the memories of the late Sewgolum exactly 60 years prior.
Though the 90-year-old Player claimed he risked imprisonment if he spoke out during Apartheid, one of his most famous quotes from his 1966 book Grand Slam Golf was: "I must say now, and clearly, that I am of the South Africa of Verwoerd and apartheid ... a nation which ... is the product of its instinct and ability to maintain civilised values and standards amongst the alien barbarians. The African may well believe in witchcraft and primitive magic, practise ritual murder and polygamy; his wealth is in cattle.”
Player is also a great supporter of American President Donald Trump. As Trump keeps spouting a conspiracy theory that there is white genocide in South Africa, he has granted a handful of white Afrikaners refugee status in the USA.
This week though, veteran Ernie Els is in the field playing the first two rounds with Naidoo and SA Amateur champion Judd Sundelson. Els will be in search of his sixth SA Open title, but realistically making the cut would be a more realistic aim for the 56-year-old.
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