Gary Player (born 1 November 1935) is a South African professional golfer widely considered one of the greatest golfers ever…..who accumulated nine major championships on the regular tour…. and six Champions Tour major championship victories….as well as three Senior British Open Championships on the European Senior Tour. At the age of 29, Player won the 1965 U.S. Open and became the only non-American to win all four majors in a career….which is known as the career Grand Slam….as he became only the third golfer in history to win the Career Grand Slam….thus following Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen….while only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have performed the feat since. Gary Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six decades….and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
Nicknamed the Black Knight, Mr. Fitness, and the International Ambassador of Golf…. Player is also a renowned golf course architect with more than 325 design projects on five continents throughout the world…..plus he has also authored or co-written 36 golf books. His business interests are represented by Black Knight International….which includes Gary Player Design, Player Real Estate, The Player Foundation, Gary Player Academies and Black Knight Enterprises…. aspects of which include licensing, events, publishing, wine, apparel and memorabilia. The Gary Player Stud Farm breeds thoroughbred race horses including 1994 Epsom Derby entry Broadway Flyer. He operates The Player Foundation….which has a primary objective of promoting underprivileged education around the world. In 1983, The Player Foundation established the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, South Africa, which has educational facilities for more than 500 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. In 2013 it celebrated its 30th Anniversary with charity golf events in London, Palm Beach, Shanghai and Cape Town….bringing its total of funds raised to over US$60 million.
I tell all of this about Gary Player to say this….Gary Player has done what we at ImaSportsphile aspire to do….for when we finish posting our entire 10,000+ vintage video collection…..our awesome virtual video museum will be owned by ImaSportsphile Academy….and the monies derived from membership to the museum will go to build orphanages where kids will have the opportunity to grow up in a universe of education through participation in sports…..so, learning about the efforts of The Black Knight promoting underprivileged education around the world provides us with inspiration to continue on our path of posting the balance of our library….just 7500 more and we’ll be there.
