ERNIE ELS PLAYS IN ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE

This year’s Open Champion Ernie Els is to play in this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.

The popular South African, who won The Open over the links at Royal Lytham last weekend, has confirmed he is planning to be in the field for the Championship, which takes place from October 4-7.

Els will be bidding for a unique links golf double at St Andrews as he tries to win both The Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in the same calendar year.

Defending champion Michael Hoey will be returning to St Andrews, hoping to become the first golfer to win back-to-back Alfred Dunhill Links titles.

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which celebrates links golf at its finest, is played over three of the world’s best known and respected links courses – the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links

With a prize fund of US$5 million, the championship incorporates 

two separate competitions - an individual professional tournament 

for the world's leading golfers and a team event in which the professionals are paired with some of the most celebrated amateur golfers which creates a unique atmosphere.

Among the amateurs who played last year were film and TV stars Andy Garcia, Hugh Grant and John O’Hurley and music legends Don Felder of the Eagles, Huey Lewis and Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres. 

A quartet of Britain’s sporting knights – Sir Ian Botham, Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave - led a locker room full of sporting heroes, including Dutch football legends Johan Cruyff and Ruud Gullit, former England player Jamie Redknapp and Scottish defender Alan Hansen. 
Former British tennis No 1 Tim Henman was in the field along with a strong team of cricketers - Botham, Andrew Strauss and Michael Vaughan, plus Steve Waugh and Shane Warne of Australia.
Entrance to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will be FREE at all three courses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A ticket price of £15 (concessionary £10) will be charged for the final day’s play over the Old Course on Sunday, October 7. 
 Entry for under 16s and students is free.   Tickets are available through the ticket hotline on 0844 581 4922 or at the entrance gates.