Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Christiaan Bezuidenhout started playing golf at the age of four, growing up next to Delmas GC in his native South Africa. He excelled as a junior and thrived in his four years as a member of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation, founded by Ernie in 1999 to provide educational assistance and golfing opportunities for young individuals predominantly from families of limited resources.

“Christiaan went about his work with a quiet determination to succeed,” recalls Hannes van Niekerk, CEO at the Foundation. “He took his school work and his golf seriously and we saw a steady improvement in both. Christiaan didn’t ever pitch up at a tournament to come second, he was always there to be the absolute best he could be. His dedication to hard work was a great example to the other members of the Foundation. It’s no surprise whatsoever that he is now seeing the success that he is in his professional career and I have no doubt that there is plenty more to come.”

Christiaan turned professional in 2015, winning the Order of Merit on the Big Easy Tour, the developmental tour for the Sunshine Tour. He was ‘Rookie of the Year’ on the Sunshine Tour in 2017 and earned a European Tour card for 2018 after finishing inside the Top-25 at the previous year’s Qualifying School Final Stage.

Finding his feet quickly, Christiaan claimed his maiden European Tour title in 2019 at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation, shooting rounds of 66, 68, 69, 71 on the notoriously tough Valderrama layout for a remarkable six-stroke victory.

Ernie Els is full of praise for Christiaan’s quick transition from rookie to tournament winner. “I remember Christiaan joining us at the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation and he obviously had some game. To see him come of age with his first European Tour win in 2019 was quite a thrill for me. I’d been very impressed the way he’d established himself as a pro; I remember at the Dunhill a few years previously he’d got a special invite and he wasn’t overawed by the experience. It felt to me like he was building-up to that win in Spain. And I’m not surprised he’s won again since!”

Indeed, the following season Christiaan started the year with victory at the Dimension Data Pro-Am, a co-sanctioned event between the Sunshine Tour and the Challenge Tour, and then at the end of the year secured back-to-back European Tour wins on home soil at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the South African Open.

“It’s unbelievable to stand here with an Open win,” said Christiaan. “It’s any South African golfer’s dream to win a national tournament. It’s unreal. I fought hard today, the front nine things didn’t go my way and I just dug deep. I knew I had to make pars coming in and I did it. I’m really, really chuffed to stand here as a winner.”

Christiaan would finish 2020 seventh on the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex, having also broken into the Top-50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

One might say that ‘onwards and upwards through hard work’ is Christiaan’s core philosophy. “I’m privileged to have learned quite a lot during the last year and I wish to use what I learned for what lies ahead,” he commented at the beginning of 2021. “I’m going to spend much of the year in the US and hope to get my PGA TOUR card by applying everything there. For me, it’s important that I always work hard, while remaining humble, doesn’t matter how good or bad it goes. To keep calm during the difficult times and not to give up but, more importantly, to be cool-headed during the better times and to focus on what is important.”

It’s a refreshingly mature perspective from a young man who, at the age of two, nearly died having mistakenly drank rat poison from a Coca-Cola can. It left him with a stammer and he was diagnosed with severe anxiety at age four. In 2015, he was banned from golf after a drug test revealed that medication he was using for anxiety and his stammer included a substance that was illegal in the sport. His ban was reduced to nine months following a hearing which determined he had not used the substance for performance-enhancing purposes.

Key Information
Born: 18 May 1994
Birthplace: Delmas, South Africa
Turned Professional: 2015
Height: 6ft 1in
Weight: 195lbs
Attachment: Serengeti Wildlife & Golf Estate
Interests: Diving, Chelsea FC, music

Tournament Wins
2020 South African Open
2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship
2020 Dimension Data Pro-Am
2019 Andalucía Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation
2016 Sun Fish River Challenge
2015 The Kings Cup – Big Easy Tour
2015 Glendower GC – Big Easy Tour

Notable Facts & Figures
Member of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation from 2011-14.
Topped the 2015 Order of Merit on The Big Easy Tour in SA.
Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year in 2017.
European Tour Golfer of the Month in December 2020.