A couple of weeks ago I was MC at a Nomads function where they paid tribute to Gary Player who had been a member since it was founded in 1960.

We asked Gary for a favourite memory of Sol Kerzner and he told us how the Nedbank Golf Challenge came about. 

Sol asked Gary what the biggest prize money offered in golf was and Gary replied: '$750  000'.

'Right, we're going to offer a million,' said Sol and in those early days it was the Million Dollar.

A couple of years later, when the PGA Tour purse reached $1m, Sol was chatting to Lee Trevino who suggested he up the first prize to a million dollars, which he did, making it the richest golf event in the world.

In the 1980s apartheid was still an issue so the field was small – between five and 20 players – but top class. Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary himself, Johnny Miller, Ray Floyd, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros were all part of apartheid's blacklist for playing in a golf tournament in South Africa.

The first event was played in 1981 and was won by Miller after a nine-hole playoff with Ballesteros.

There have been 10 playoffs in the 42 tournaments, and eight South Africans have won a total of 14 editions of 'Africa's Major': Ernie Els, Nick Price and David Frost each won three; Fulton Allem, Mark McNulty, Branden Grace, Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman each won one each.

In 1987 the first prize was increased to $1-million and Ian Woosnam won the biggest prize in the history of golf. He holed his second shot at the par four 17th and won by four shots.

In 2000 to 2002, the first prize was increased to $2m. Those events were won by Els in 2000 and 2002 (pictured), and Sergio Garcia won in 2001 (pictured), beating Els in a play-off.

It's interesting to think that over the last few years, the first prize has been $1.02m which is only $20,000 more than it was in 1987.

The Gary Player Country Club lifted the bar for golf courses in South Africa, both from a design and condition point of view. Designed by Player and Ron Kirby, they put in greens that offered a huge variety of pin placements. When it opened, it was easily the longest course in South Africa and it was one of the first courses that was constructed with bentgrass greens.

The first tournament played on the course was the Sun City Classic in December 1974, less than 18 months after construction started. The course hadn't grown in properly yet so each player was given a one-yard piece of wood and you could place your ball anywhere within that distance.

Arnold Palmer was invited to play and in one round was paired with Phil Simmons. On one hole Phil brought out his piece of wood and Palmer asked him what he was doing. Phil reminded him that they were allowed to move the ball within that distance. Palmer told him: 'That is not the way golf is played, you play the ball as it lies.' Of course, Phil's stick disappeared for the rest of the round.

Price hit two of the best shots I ever saw at Sun City. In the first round, playing alongside McNulty, he holed a 9-iron at the first hole for an eagle two. He won that event by the biggest margin ever, 12 shots. When he won again it was in a play-off with Tiger Woods in 1998.

Els eclipsed Price's record total of 24-under in 1999 when he went one shot better. That's an average of 65.75 per round.

There have been a few dodgy incidents over the years.

Scott Hoch took a penalty drop at the 9th hole away from a thorn tree and, after the round, took a referee there and explained what happened. The penalty was taken off. However, if he'd had to drop from an obstruction, he would have had to drop in a different place.

Jim Furyk reported a mistake he'd made after overhearing another ruling which meant that he had to disqualify himself. The next day he played as a marker. It's one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship I've ever seen.

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