Nelson Mandela Invitational

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The Nelson Mandela Invitational is a charity golf tournament which has taken place annually in South Africa since 2000. It is endorsed by former South African President Nelson Mandela and hosted by South Africa's greatest golfer Gary Player. It is a 36 hole event. The field is made up of eight fourballs, each consisting of a senior professional, a regular tour professional, a celebrity and a businessman. There are two sets of results. Firstly the full teams compete in a Fourball Alliance, with the best two scores counting. Secondly, since 2002 the professionals have competed amongst themselves in a betterball competition, with the best score of the two professionals in each team to count.

Virtually all of South Africa's top players have taken part, as well as some well known players from elsewhere, such as Sam Torrance and Lee Westwood. Some of the professionals have been women, for example Catrin Nilsmark. The celebrities have also included a mixture of South Africans and overseas names like Gary Lineker, Nigel Mansell, Frankie Fredericks and Kapil Dev. The 2005 event raised over 5 million South African rand. There is prize money for the professionals, but it is modest by the standards of professional golf, and they sometimes donate it to charity.