Another keen competitor was cricketer Kevin Petersen, ex-captain of England. No visit to Robert Baker for him, as he claims to have never had a lesson - although this caused some hilarity among his chums when I repeated it. Nevertheless, he only took up the game in 2014 and amazingly now plays off six. Moving into Wentworth led to him taking up the game, and he clearly loves the Dunhill. “This event is all about friendship. You meet and engage with different people and have fun and compete. You rub shoulders with people from all different fields, but all have one same interest. We all love golf.”
He described the moment when the coveted invite arrives as a time when “gentlemen and ladies around the world go ballistic! It’s a dream come true.”
I asked him about his favourite course and his answer was immediate and emphatic: “Leopard Creek. It’s heaven on earth and I love it to bits.” Another Dunhill connection here as Leopard Creek, after a hiatus, will again be hosting the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December 2018. Designed by Gary Player, the course is owned by Richemont chairman Johann Rupert and may be the best course in Africa, and certainly one of the best in the world.
