Pieter Moolman will not defend his Fortress Invitational title on the Sunshine Tour this week because he has a date with The Home of Golf as he makes his debut in the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour.

Moolman was delighted to qualify for this week’s festival of links golf in St Andrews where he will join a glittering pro-am field of celebrities, sports stars and some of the world’s leading golfers.

“It’s a pity that I can’t defend my Fortress Invitational title because I do love the Glendower golf course. But at the same time I feel incredibly privileged to have qualified for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. It’s the biggest tournament of my career so far,” said Moolman.

His victory in the 2022 Fortress Invitational played a key part in his journey to qualifying for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. As a result of that win, Moolman went on to finish within the top 10 on the Sunshine Tour’s 2022/23 Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy, which secured him a tee-off time in St Andrews this week.

“It does feel like an achievement in my career so far because I didn’t receive an invitation into this tournament. I played my way into it.”

The Sunshine Tour professional will find himself in the company of celebrities such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia, Kathryn Newton and Matthew Goode, rock and pop stars Ronan Keating, Tom Chaplin, Dave Farrell, Mike Rutherford, Huey Lewis and Tico Torres, and a host of the world’s leading professional golfers including defending champion Ryan Fox, victorious European Ryder Cup stars Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Bob MacIntyre, as well as PGA Tour stars Billy Horschel and Matt Kuchar.

“I’m excited to compete against some of the best golfers in the world and to just enjoy the whole experience,” he said.

Moolman joins a strong South African contingent in St Andrews this week that also includes Justin Walters, Thriston Lawrence, Oliver Bekker, Zander Lombard, Louis de Jager, JC Ritchie, Bryce Easton, Deon Germishuys, Wilco Nienaber, Thomas Aiken, Jaco Prinsloo, Dylan Mostert, Hennie O’Kennedy, Casey Jarvis, Hennie du Plessis, Aldrich Potgieter, Louis Oosthuizen, Jayden Schayper, Dylan Naidoo, Martin Vorster, Christiaan Burke, Ryan van Velzen, Yurav Premlall, Louis Albertse, Luca Filippi, Dean Burmester and Rupert Kaminski.