Gary Player has always had a soft spot for Zwartkop Country Club. He has played numerous exhibition matches at the club, against Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Seve Ballesteros and Gene Littler, among other great champions.

A few years ago, I asked him why he chose Zwartkop. I was expecting him to say it was because the course is tricky with the river that runs through it. His reply floored me. He said: “I chose Zwartkop because of your father and mother. When I started out as a pro they were always very kind to me.”

At last year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, Gary asked me how things were going at Zwartkop and I told him we had to close nine holes due to flooding and that we could no longer get insurance for the golf course. He said: “I’m coming to Zwartkop to help you.”

On the last day of the tournament, he called me aside and said: “Dale, I’m coming to Zwartkop but you must make money out of the day.”

Well, about two months ago Gary called me from the US and told me he’d be at the club on 28 November.

Now we had to find a concept for a day that would be profitable and give us exposure for all our new facilities. We came up with the idea of Lunch with the Legends. I immediately got on the phone to Sally Little, South Africa’s finest lady golfer, and Denis Hutchinson, the Voice of Golf. They both said they would help Zwartkop.

I then called Mazda and Craig Roberts, who said he loved the idea and would chat to his team. Fortunately, he came back to me with a positive answer, and Lunch with the Legends, presented by Mazda, was born.

The team at Mazda were sensational. All they wanted to do was make the event as successful as possible. Sally told Craig about how in 1982 she won five tournaments and five Mazda vehicles – she could have started her own dealership!

The event comprised 18 holes of golf where eight fourballs each played two holes with Gary Player, Sally Little and Brandon Stone. Hutchie drove around the course chatting to the golfers. A further 52 golfers played Trackman and guests at the club watched Gary’s short-game clinic. Everyone on the guest list attended the lunch, Q&A session and auction. Unfortunately, Hutchie couldn’t join the Q&A as he had to go into hospital early the next morning. He’s 100% after the surgery.

Sally and Gary were amazing with the Q&A. When the subject of women’s professional golf came up, Sally spoke about some of the greats of the game, including the best-ever Mickey Wright who Ben Hogan maintained had the best golf swing, man or woman, he’d seen.

Nobody in golf is better at entertaining people than Gary Player. He was at Zwartkop for nearly 12 hours that day, and for the entire time, he spoke to people, gave golf tips and signed hundreds of autographs. His energy, enthusiasm, and love of people and laughter are truly inspirational.

Each of the Legends had a host – Gary had our club chairman, Chris Delport, who is now Gary’s biggest fan! Sally had Crizelda Terblanche, one of SA’s ladies professionals, and Hutch had Francois Anderson, our club captain, who learned so much from Hutch on the day that he nearly won the Saturday Club Competition!

Gary spoke about what makes a champion – the “It” Factor that the greats of the game have and thousands of other players lack. We know that if you don’t have these ingredients, it is unlikely you’ll be a champion golfer:

Desire: Gary Player is 89 years old and when he was on the practice tee before teeing off he was still trying something new to try to improve.

Determination: Ben Hogan only won his first Major at 34. He’d been a pro for 16 years. That’s determination.

Work ethic: Hogan said it best – the secrets were in the dirt. Tiger Woods outworked everybody on the practice tee and in the gym.

Passion: You have to love the game. Playing and practising should never be a grind. People would be amazed at how hard Simon Hobday practised – and, boy, did it pay off.

Focus: This varies from player to player. Some walk on to the 1st tee with their game face on and for 18 holes it’s always there. Others, like Lee Trevino, have the ability to turn it on and off.

Of the 45 Major Championships that have been won by South Africans, Gary won 40% of them. This includes the Champions Tour.

These are the reasons all three of our Legends received standing ovations at the lunch:

GARY PLAYER

• Won nine Majors

• 169 tournament wins

• Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame

• Winner of 13 South African Opens

• Won seven Australian Opens

DENIS HUTCHINSON

• Won the SA Open as an amateur

• In the winning SA Team of the Commonwealth Tournament

• Won the French Open

• Only man to play a tournament round with the Big Three of golf

• The Voice of Golf

• Member of the SA Golf Hall of Fame

• Honorary life president of the SA PGA

SALLY LITTLE

• Winner of 25 tournaments

• Member of the SA Golf Hall of Fame

• Voted in the top 50 All-Time Ladies Golfers

• Won two Majors

• Runner-up at two US Women’s Opens

• Won the individual title at the World Amateur Team Championship

• Represented the World Team at five Honda Cup Matches

The average age of the three Legends was a touch under 85, and amazingly all three of them are still passionate about golf and spend their lives promoting the game we love.

IMAGES: SUPPLIED/ZWARTKOP CC