Club: The Links at Fancourt

Location: George, South Africa

Date: Jan 19-22, 2012

European Tour Golf Betting Odds: The Volvo Golf Champions took place in the Kingdom of Bahrain in January 2011 and made an immediate impact, billed as a ‘Celebration of Golf,’ with a view to moving quickly to become the European Tour’s season-opening Tournament of Champions.

The form-book was to be proved correct when the then world number-nine Paul Casey, the highest-ranked player in the field took the title, and the €283,330 first prize that went with it, his 12th European Tour victory elevating the Englishman to sixth on the OWGR.

The 2012 Volvo Golf Champions will take place over The Links at Fancourt, George, South Africa from 19th – 22nd January 2012, the first exclusively-sanctioned European Tour event of the year, open only to winners from 2011 and European Tour players with 10 or more Tour titles to their name.

The limited field event will play all four rounds, with no halfway cut, the champion earning a first prize of €350,000 from a total prize fund of €2million.

On Friday the Volvo World Golf Challenge ‘World Finalists’ will play in the Tournament, with one amateur playing with two professionals in each group. The professionals will continue to play individual stroke play format, while the amateurs will play in a team competition with both professionals in their group forming their team. The best two scores of the three team members on each hole will count towards the team total.

The two professionals in the winning ‘Playing with the Pros’ team will each receive a Volvo car, model and specification to be confirmed.

The Pro-am will be staged on Wednesday 18th January 2012, with tickets on sale for individual days, 18th – 22nd January inclusive, season tickets covering all five days, with juniors (under-16-years-old on 18th January) enjoying free entry when accompanied by a paying adult.

The Course

Recently voted number-one course in South Africa for the first time since it was completed in 2000, the Gary Player-designed links layout has consistently featured in the top-100 golf courses in the world and has won numerous awards.

Fancourt is South Africa’s premier golf resort, with all three of its golf courses ranked in the Top 20 in South Africa (2011 Golf Digest rankings).

In addition, Fancourt has an exceptional golf academy that houses a TaylorMade Fitment Centre and state-of-the-art teaching facilities, backed up by the expertise of PGA professionals, complete with two on-site golf shops.

The original courses at Fancourt were The Montagu and Outeniqua, The Links at Fancourt added in 2000, an awe-inspiring example of world-class design and golf-course construction, involving the movement of some 750,000 cubic meters of earth to create a genuine links-style layout that was once an airfield.

The Links at Fancourt is 6,852-yards (6,263-metres), Par-73, with a dramatic Par five, three, five finishing stretch.

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2012 Volvo Golf Champions Winner - Big week for Callaway Golf at Volvo Golf Champions

It was a good week for Callaway Golf at the Volvo Golf Champions as Branden Grace won his second event in as many weeks after a three-way play-off with Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

The back-to-back victories has seen the South African catapult himself into the top 100 of the world rankings as well as amass over €570,000 of prize money in the first month of the new season.

Grace becomes the sixth player in history to win their first two European Tour events and follows in the footsteps of players such as Jack Newton and Fred Couples.

Neil Howie, president of Callaway Golf Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "Back-to-back wins for any golf professional is an amazing feat but for it to be achieved by a player fresh from European Tour Qualifying School is quite incredible.

2011 Volvo Golf Champions Winner - Casey clinches Champions win on 18

England's Paul Casey held his nerve at the last to win the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions, his first title in 20 months.

Casey needed to sink a five-foot par putt on the 18th at the Royal Golf Club Sunday to secure victory after his playing partner and co-leader, Sweden's Peter Hanson, missed an up and down from the greenside bunker.

The Englishman closed with a 4-under 68 for a four-day tally of 20-under 268, while Hanson fell into a tie for second with Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez, who had made a birdie at the last earlier to finish on 19-under 269.

Scotland's Stephen Gallacher was fourth at 18-under following a final-round 67, while Sweden's Robert Karlsson, last year's Dubai World Championship winner, opened the new season with a 271, good for fifth.