Oosthuizen looks forward to more St Andrews memories

It never fails to resonate with Louis Oosthuizen that he was once a boy who made and sold furniture to put petrol in his father’s car to drive him to amateur tournaments, and that he now walks around St Andrews every year during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship as someone privileged to have extremely close ties to The Home of Golf.

“It’s always great going back to St Andrews,” says Oosthuizen, who won the Open Championship here on the Old Course in 2010.

“The whole town is so full of golf. My wife and I love to spend time in the town just walking around. We try to make the Alfred Dunhill Links an annual trip to enjoy the company of so many sports legends and people that have done so much for golf. It’s a privilege to share in this and be part of an event that celebrates this.”

Oosthuizen has always relished playing in the Championship, and now more than ever at a point in his career when he’s enjoying competing with some of his closest friends.

“I’ve really enjoyed these past few years in golf with my friends, and being part of a team. It’s so special. It gave me another boost to play hard and get some good results for my team.”

That sense of being part of a bigger golf family will certainly be felt by Oosthuizen in St Andrews this year as he joins a South African challenge that includes young South African star Aldrich Potgieter, who was a member of Oosthuizen’s Louis57 Junior Golf Academy early in his amateur career.

But Oosthuizen will also have his own goals. With his Open Championship victory here in 2010, Oosthuizen became only the second South African to win The Open at The Home of Golf after Bobby Locke. In this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links, he’s hoping to achieve another rare milestone for himself.

“I wouldn’t mind playing with a sports legend this year in the Team Championship. Perhaps Schalk Burger Snr or Schalk Burger Jnr,” he says.

The Alfred Dunhill Links is a celebration of Links golf, played over the Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, three of the greatest Links courses in the world, from October 2 – 5, culminating in the final day on the Old Course.

This is the 40th year that Alfred Dunhill has supported golf at St Andrews – first in the Alfred Dunhill Cup from 1985, then in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship from 2001. During that time, many millions have been raised for charity.

In June 2011 the Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation was established as the official Foundation of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The Foundation is committed to developing young amateur golfers in Scotland and South Africa and also supports the University of St Andrews and the St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation, which refurbishes and preserves historical monuments in the town.