- Born
- October 17, 1969
- Birthplace
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Nickname
- The Big Easy
- Playing record
- 4 major titles / world number one / World Golf Hall of Fame (2011)
- Design firm
- Ernie Els Design (founded 2000)
- Official site
- ernieels.com
Ernie Els is a South African professional golfer and golf course architect, born on October 17, 1969 in Johannesburg. Known as the Big Easy, he has won four majors: the U.S. Open in 1994 and 1997, and the Open Championship in 2002 and 2012. He reached world number one in 1997. He holds the record of seven wins at the World Match Play Championship, and he topped the European Tour money list in 2003 and 2004. He played eight times for the International team at the Presidents Cup and captained the side at the 2019 match in Melbourne. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. He is also known for Els for Autism, his autism support charity, which has run a charity golf tournament since 2009.
His design company, Ernie Els Design, was founded in 2000 and is wholly owned by Els himself. It is based in Florida in the United States and in South Africa, with further offices in Malaysia and Dubai. Its courses are found in South Africa, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, China and Malaysia among other countries, and seven of them have hosted professional tour events. The renovation of the West Course at Wentworth in England is also the firm’s work. Its official site sets out a commitment to sustainable development and an environmentally minded approach, and Els says that the golf courses they build will still be there long after he is gone.
He has a good deal of work in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia he designed The Els Club Teluk Datai on Langkawi and The Els Club Desaru Coast in Johor. In Indonesia there is Trump International Golf Club Lido in West Java, and in China an Els-designed course at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen.
Among the courses GoGolf lists, his work is The ELS Club Desaru Coast in Johor, Malaysia. The 27-hole Ocean Course, looking out over the South China Sea, was designed by Els and opened in November 2016. The 18-hole Valley Course was designed by Vijay Singh together with Els and opened in March 2017. The course is not currently open for booking through GoGolf.
See the other golf course architects here.
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Photo: billypoonphotos（Flickr） / CC BY-SA 2.0