Sunshine Tour pros, sports stars, celebrities and business giants celebrate Gary Player

A selection of Sunshine Tour professionals and an array of South Africa’s most iconic sports stars started arriving at Sun City on Friday, as well as guests from around the world.

And the man they have all come to celebrate with on his 90th birthday – Gary Player – was out doing what he does best. He was on the golf course.

South Africa’s greatest ever sportsman was quietly driving around his beloved Gary Player Country Club golf course casting an eye over the layout he designed and constructed, and which itself has become an icon in the game.

It’s a golf course he has seen go through many evolutions as the game has changed over the decades. And similarly, Player will walk its fairways this weekend in his 90th year as a man who has also evolved, from one of the game’s most iconic golfers to a leading golf course designer and then to a philanthropist.

This November, I celebrate 90 years — not just with family and friends, but through the Gary & Vivienne Player Invitational. We’ll celebrate with purpose: to give back.#gvpi #gvpf #giveback #90acts pic.twitter.com/bpqBtsyqeS

— GARY PLAYER (@garyplayer) October 2, 2025

This weekend, the Gary Player Country Club and Player’s other masterpiece here at Sun City, the Lost City Golf Club, will host the 36-hole Gary & Vivienne Player Invitational tournament in partnership with the Gary & Vivienne Player Foundation and its support of the Blair Atholl Pre-Primary School.

And the Sunshine Tour is paying its own tribute to a man who has been its greatest ambassador for decades, with 43 Sunshine Tour professionals – from stars such as David Frost to current champions such as Luis Carrera, Pieter Moolman and Warwick Purchase – competing this weekend alongside the sports stars, celebrities and business leaders who will all challenge for the famed baobab trophy.

Sunshine Tour Commissioner Thomas Abt said it was a privilege for their professionals to pay tribute to Gary Player this weekend.

“Gary Player has always been one of the Sunshine Tour’s greatest ambassadors. We are truly blessed by his ongoing support of our Tour and the inspiration he is to our professionals. It is an honour for our professionals to be here, and to wish him a very happy 90th birthday on behalf of the Sunshine Tour,” said Abt.

More importantly, they will join the other luminaries in the spirit of golf and giving that this event represents and which, through partners such as Sun International, BMW, Citadel, Tabono, The Pro Shop, Rolex and Cell C, continues to support the valuable endowment fund created to help ensure the sustainability of the Blair Atholl Pre-Primary School.