The European and Sunshine Tours are co-sanctioning the Tshwane Open this week at the Cooperleaf Golf and Country Estate in Centurion, South Africa.

Cooperleaf was designed by Ernie Els and at 7,964 yards is the largest golf course in European Tour history.

The golf course sits on a property formerly owned by Els’ grandfather and the four par-5’s are all over 600 yards.

The par-5 No. 4 hole measures 685 yards. For mere mortals this constitutes two par-4 holes.

This is just the second year for the Tshwane Open. South African native, Dawie Van der Walt missed 11 cuts in 13 starts on the European Tour last year, but he won this tournament. The €315,000 first-place check was the largest of his career.

Van der Walt also spent some time on the Web.com Tour. He finished No. 52 on that tour in 2013 and just missed earning his 2014 PGA Tour card.

He is having a much better year thus far in 2014. He captured his second European Tour win last December at the Nelson Mandela Championship. He has made eight of ten cuts this season and has moved to No. 17 in the Race to Dubai.

South Africans have won five of the seven Sunshine Tour events this season. Thomas Aiken won the Africa Open and George Coetzee won the Joburg Open.

Both Aiken and Coetzee are in the field this week at the Tshwane Open.

In addition to Van der Walt winning the Nelson Mandela, Louis Ooshthuizen won the Volvo Champions and Charl Schwartzel the Alfred Dunhill Championship.   

The Tshwane Open offers a total purse of €1.5 million and is the last European and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned event this season.

The European Tour next moves to Trump Doral March 6-9, for the WGC-Cadillac a co-sanctioned event with the PGA Tour.

 It then returns to North Africa for the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco March 13-16.