Week in review: Conquering countrymen
If you don't know where South Africa is on the map, you might want to consider looking it up before you read further as the country featured heavily in the sports headlines this week.
Gary Player, a nine-time Major winner and South Africa's most successful golfer, made a trip on Monday to his signature Saadiyat Beach Golf Course in Abu Dhabi, which is set for completion in 2009.
The eco-sensitive course, which is under development on Saadiyat Island, about 500 metres from the UAE capital, is the Arabian Gulf's only "ocean" course with several beach front holes. It is being designed as an eventual contender for the annual European Tour-backed Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and is the core of the Saadiyat Beach district, a 27-sqkm island that boasts a wealth of bird and marine life.
"Environmentally, the project is fitting in beautifully with Saadiyat's natural assets," said Player, who is
an avid environmentalist. "However, when the long grasses and turfs are laid, the site will attract an even greater proportion of wildlife – Saadiyat Beach Golf Course will be a golf course and a nature sanctuary."
The course is also being fine-tuned with unique aspects to make it into a one-of-its-kind development and will become another source of pride for the region.
"We've added a fairway bunker to the driving range – nowhere else in the world, not even at Augusta [the home of the Masters golf tournament] can you practise hitting bunker shots down the fairway and Saadiyat will have that," explains Player.
Meanwhile at the home of cricket – Lord's – the touring South African team took on a side who had managed to disguise a few South Africans in their kit and called themselves England.
With the 11 Proteas on the field together with England's South Africa-born trio of Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and 12th man Garry Park – you could forgive the spectators for feeling slightly confused as to who they were watching.
South Africa came into the first Test with a fearsome fast bowling attack that had been rated as the greatest the world has seen since the West Indies in the 1980's and they were expected to blow England away. However, they were blatantly just as confused about who the opposition were and perhaps thought it was just a practice session. They looked as fearsome as an ant attacking an elephant.
If England were not helped by two shocking decisions by the umpires, Pietersen would have never got his hundred because he wouldn't have even had a chance to bat. Nonetheless he did get a century in his first Test innings against the country of his birth – remarkable stuff given the stormy relationship between the player and Proteas.
The batsman then went on to proclaim how "English" he felt. It was ironic given the response the 'England' star had given to a journalist that had asked him what he thought of the behaviour of some female fans who had sent him naked pictures of themselves last month.
"I don't know," responded Pietersen. "They're your nation not mine."
After three days the Proteas eventually woke up in that Test and via a follow-on rescued the game by hanging on for a draw.
In rugby, the Springboks ended an 86-year drought in Dunedin when they shocked New Zealand 30-28 in an absolute thriller that was decided only in the dying minutes. It also ended the All Blacks 30 match unbeaten record at home and enhanced the credentials of the world champions South Africa, who avenged last week's 19-8 loss.
At the Tour de France, the South African sponsored team Barloworld contributed to the embarrasment of the week when their Spanish rider Moises Duena tested positive for drug usage.
Also disabled star Oscar Pistorius failed in his bid to qualify for the Olympics.