England’s Lee Slattery and Retief Goosen of South Africa had reason to celebrate on day two of the Volvo Golf Champions, taking place at the Links at Fancourt, George, after they partnered Volvo World Golf Challenge finalist Mark Vandenberghe from the United Kingdom to victory in “Playing with the Pros”.
The winning trio combined for an 18 under par total in the 18-hole team competition to beat their nearest challengers – Austrian amateur Henning Frech and pros Charl Schwartzel and Simon Dyson – by three shots.
Vandenberghe, already the proud owner of a Volvo XC60, was thrilled to see his professional partners drive off in a Volvo V60 each. “It was an absolutely great experience,” he said. “This is obviously their event and it’s their job and it’s my hobby. I was very conscious about that all the way around. But both the guys made me feel very comfortable. I felt like I relaxed more quickly than I would have done in a normal tournament. It was great. Absolutely great!”
Goosen, who only realised he won the V60 after the round, added: “Mark hit some better shots out there than me. It was a very good experience. Winning the Volvo was a great added bonus. The other guys in the field can still win their own Volvo V60; they just need an ace at the par-three 17th in the next two rounds.”
Goosen’s previous Volvo win
During the 2009 Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, Goosen famously won a Volvo S80 by making an eagle on the 17th. The 17th on the Gary Player Golf course at Sun City is notoriously tricky and Goosen’s eagle was only the second ever in the history of this prestigious tournament.
About the Volvo Golf Champions
The Volvo Golf Champions is a true ‘Tournament of Champions’. An exclusive, limited field event with no halfway cut, open only to European Tour players who have won an event on the previous year’s European Tour International Schedule, the only exception being current Tour Members with more than 10 European Tour victories. An unprecedented gathering of global golfing talent has lined up at the world-acclaimed Links at Fancourt, recently voted the number one course in the country and originally designed by South African golf legend Gary Player.
About Volvo in Golf
Volvo has over 20 years experience in running world-class golf events and this is Volvo’s 125th professional golf tournament, and the 75th on the European Tour.
Volvo’s sponsorship covers the golfing spectrum and includes the Volvo World Golf Challenge, Volvo World Match Play Championship and the Volvo China Open.
Since 1988, Volvo has been at the heart of the burgeoning success story that has been the PGA European Tour and amongst those great champions to have held one of the fine Volvo titles are Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Padraig Harrington, Seve Ballesteros, José Maria Olazábal and, arguably the champion of champions over the era, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie who famously won seven-in-a-row Volvo Order of Merit crowns and shared the Volvo Masters Andalucia title in 2002 with another great Volvo master, Germany’s Bernhard Langer.
