Some leading ladies in the field
for Gary Player Invitational

FROM THE SUNSHINE TOUR WEBSITE
Some of the leading ladies of golf will add a touch of style to the Gary Player Invitational presented by Coca-Cola at The Links at Fancourt from November 27 to 30.
Rising Russian professional Maria Verchenova and Spanish super model and actress Ines Sastre will join legendary professionals Sally Little and Carin Koch in the field for the pro-celebrity charity tournament, which is the final event on this year’s Gary Player Invitational series.
The series has already travelled to the United Kingdom, United States and China this year in the quest to raise funds for underprivileged children, raising over R100-million through The Player Foundation.
This year, the Grand Slam champion has targeted education, HIV-stricken communities, and childhood obesity as the beneficiaries from the series.
Little will tee it up at The Links as South Africa’s most successful women golfer in history, winning 15 titles on the LPGA Tour, including two Majors.
After first taking up the game at the age of 14, Little made her way onto the LPGA Tour and was named the Rookie of the Year in her first full season there in 1972. Her first victory was a dramatic one. She holed a 75-foot bunker shot on the final hole to win the 1976 Ladies Masters.
But it was from 1979 to 1982 that she enjoyed her most prolific run on the tour, winning 12 titles including her first Major in the 1980 LPGA Championship. Her 1982 season still stands out as one of the best, featuring four victories, two runners-up finishes and three third-place finishes for a total of 17 top-tens that season. That carried her to a career-best third place on the money list that year.
Koch established her credential as one of Sweden’s top amateurs before turning professional and joining the Ladies European Tour in 1992. She won three events in her rookie season and soon graduated to the LPGA Tour. Her first victory in America came in the 2001 Corning Classic.
Koch’s most impressive season to date came in 2002 when she claimed 13 top-ten finishes, including three second places.
The talented Swede is a veteran of the European Solheim Cup team, and in 2003 she celebrated the birth of her second child with a European victory in the Solheim Cup in her native Sweden.
Koch is also well aware of the challenges posed by The Links, having represented Sweden in the first Women’s World Cup of Golf here in 2005.
As the younger campaigner, Verchenova has yet to claim a victory in her professional career on the Ladies European Tour, where she is the only Russian golfer.
The 22-year-old from Moscow is only the second Russian to ever tee it up on the Ladies European Tour, following in the footsteps of Ouliana Rotmistrova who played on the tour in 2004.
Verchenova became interested in golf purely by chance when she and her father were on holiday in the Czech Republic. With looks that have drawn comparisons with Anna Kournikova, Verchenova is determined to let her game do the talking.
“I’m just trying to put more attention on the golf to improve myself. I don’t really care about doing lots of modelling and photos. I think you can look good in a photo but what matters is the scores on the golf course,” she said.
“Children are my number one priority and it is an honour for me to be part of this special event and do my bit to raise money for the children of South Africa.”
Sastre is no stranger to golf in South Africa, and the UNICEF ambassador brings to Fancourt a touch of glamour from a career of featuring on magazine covers to acting.
The Spanish star featured in her first commercial at the age of 12 and soon became one of the most sought after faces for magazines such as Vogue, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, GQ and others, as well as the face for Chanel, Michel Klein, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Fendi and Lancôme.
But behind her beauty lies the intelligence of a woman who speaks four languages and has a degree in French literature.
They will all share the fairway with Grand Slam champion Player, double US Open champion Retief Goosen and other professionals such as Rodger Davis, Costantino Rocca and Peter Mitchell, and celebrities such as Olympic swimming sensation Roland Schoeman, top cricketer Barry Richards and football legends Lucas Radebe and Kenny Dalglish.
The Sunshine Tour will be represented by Adilson da Silva, the leading available player off the 2007 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, Omar Sandys, who was the highest ranked black player last season and the winner of the 2008 Coca-Cola Championship hosted by Gary Player, which concludes at Fancourt on Thursday.