“We are thankful for the fantastic support we have received from Mr Johann Rupert, who is a committed and passionate partner, in staging these events at the wonderful Leopard Creek, and we look forward to seeing who emerges from the field to etch their names into history as the first winners of these events.”

Christiaan Maas is the highest ranked player in the field for the Africa Amateur Championship at 14th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) and will be hoping that previous success at Leopard Creek, where he has finished as the leading amateur in the Alfred Dunhill Championship on the DP World Tour for the last two years, will give him the edge.

The 20-year-old South African also enjoyed a successful season last year in which he finished runner-up in the Western Amateur in the United States, was selected for the International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup, and earned Second Team All-American honors at the University of Texas.

He is joined by fellow South Africans Altin van der Merwe (176), runner-up at the recent Free State Open, and 2023 Northern Amateur Open champion Daniel Bennett (289), who has already won this year at the NOMADS Coastal and won the 2023 NOMADS South Africa U19 Stroke Play by 21 strokes with a score of 34-under-par.

Related: THE 2023 AGC MID-AM PLAYER OF THE YEAR: ALTIN VAN DER MERWE

Other contenders include Egypt’s top amateur, Issa Abouelela (851), winner of three amateur championships last year, and emerging talent Jack Buchanan (586) of South Africa, who was second in the Junior Orange Bowl International in the United States and won the 2023 All Africa Junior Team Championship.

Uganda’s Godfrey Nsubuga (223) enjoyed four wins last year, including the Johnnie Walker Uganda Open Championship, the NCBA Tanzania Open and the Tea Fields Trophy and Nyali Open, both held in Kenya, while Youssef El Hali (273) of Morocco claimed five domestic amateur titles in a successful 2023 season.

Zané Kleynhans and Kyra van Kan of South Africa lead the competitors vying for the first ever Africa Amateur Women’s Invitational title.

Kleynhans has bagged two amateur titles in the last year at the Eastern Province and Border Championship and KwaZulu-Natal Junior Championship, but will face opposition from 2023 South Africa Amateur champion van Kan and the likes of Gio Raad, who last year won five titles including the English Girls' Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

Rolex is an event partner of the Africa Amateur Championship and Africa Amateur Women’s Invitational and is committed to supporting The R&A’s professional and amateur championships. The Swiss watchmaker’s contribution to excellence in golf is based on a rich heritage stretching back almost 60 years, forged through pivotal partnerships at every level of the game, from the sport’s leading professional and amateur competitions and organisations, to players at the pinnacle of their discipline and younger talents embarking on their journey towards greatness.