Excting day for young golfers
It is important that they participate so they can feed this information back to their other players.
The South Africa (SA) BMW Open Championship had young golfers excited to meet and work with professional golfers.
The event, hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni at the Glendower Golf Club, had 56 young golfers from Tembisa, Vosloorus and Daveyton inspired after they had received instruction from five Sunshine Tour and five European Tour players during a golf development clinic held on January 5.
Recent Sunshine Tour Qualifying School champion, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, was excited to give back in his former home union.
“When I was still at Ekurhuleni Golf Union, there were a lot of people along the way that helped me get to this level. All the other guys coaching at the clinic feel the same and that’s why we enjoyed the eagerness and passion of these kids. Their excitement and enthusiasm was infectious and I think it reminded all of us that we all started out exactly where they are right now,” he said.
Sthembiso Nzimande (10), a beginner from Duduza Golfers in Vosloorus, was thrilled to have Bezuidenhout help her hone her driving skills.
She said she use to watch others in her neighbourhood play golf and became interested in it.
“Other kids play soccer and other sports, but I got hooked on golf. We practice hard every day. I really enjoyed the chance to work with the pro because it means I can learn to perfect my skill,” said Sthembiso.
The young golfers ranged between the ages of five and 17 and were split into groups of six for intense one-on-one coaching with Bezuidenhout, Brandon Stone, Tyrone Ferreira, Zander Lombard and Tyrone Mordt, as well as former Ryder Cup and World Cup player Edoardo Molinari from Italy, and English quartet Mark Forster, Seve Benson, Renato Paratore and Matthew Southgate.
“It is important that they participate so they can feed this information back to their other players. There were kids that were hitting some great shots and I was amazed by their skills. I caught myself thinking that any of these kids could be a future champion of South Africa. It would be incredible to see some of them on the Sunshine Tour or Sunshine Ladies Tour in a few years,” said Mr Bezuidenhout.
