ForeTheBoys tee-up for township golf
Historically golf has been perceived as a game only for the wealthy and so-called 'elite' of society.
In modern South Africa the sustainable development of talented golfers from disadvantaged backgrounds has become integral towards making opportunities in the sport available to all.
One organisation which is striving to achieve that development objective is the local ForeTheBoys (FTB) Golf School, which was established in 2015.
According to their chairman Tim Smit, FTB is a a collective of social golfers and aspiring businessmen and professionals in Ekurhuleni, who come together to compete against each other in a league format at a different Gauteng golf course every month.
Smit and his FTB committee pounced on a random idea by City Times sport journalist Logan Green to come to the assistance of the Daveyton Golf Club, which was struggling to keep its head above water as a result of poor maintenance of the course by the Ekurhuleni metro – as well as a lack of resources and equipment, among other issues.
READ: ‘Golf is dying in Daveyton’
Representatives from FTB accompanied Green to the course in May last year to meet with the Daveyton Golf Club’s management committee and to gain a firsthand experience of the conditions at the township facility.
The FTB members walked a few holes with, and caddied for, some of Daveyton’s junior golfers on the day.
It was then and there that they decided to formulate a plan to bring their members to the course for a fund-raising golf day and the Hammond Pole ForeTheBoys Daveyton Golf Initiative was born.
Although it took some time to come to fruition, the FTB golfers finally arrived in Daveyton with their clubs for their first social responsibility event on the morning of Saturday, February 18.
The 44 golfers who played (comprising FTB members, Daveyton members and special guests) made it the biggest ever field to tee-off and play at once at the club.
The FTB committee managed to secure sponsorships from Hammond Pole Attorneys (title sponsor), OneLogix, Insumbi Technical Business, SA Digital, Picture Glass and Rynfield Primary School, who all helped raise R35 000 for a green-keepers’ initiative – as well as contributing in other ways.
The FTB members also donated eight sets of golf clubs and other training equipment to the club.
The initiative also saw FTB teaming up with Daveyton’s sister club Benoni Country Club (BCC), which formed a formal reciprocity agreement between the clubs in September last year.
READ: Benoni Country Club, Daveyton Golf Club become partners with reciprocation agreement
With the funds raised, BCC will assist FTB by paying the salaries of two individuals from the Daveyton community, who will be trained up as green-keepers for Daveyton Golf Club by BCC’s CEO Darren Millington.
“The aim is to train the new course staff and upskill them, while rejuvenating Daveyton Golf Club at the same time,” said Smit.
“Once the gentlemen have been trained in the craft, the hope is that they move on to better jobs at other courses and the process can start over again.”
The day was a tremendous success, with golfers from different backgrounds playing the game with camaraderie, respect, plenty of laughter and a general love for the sport.
A grinning Vusi Mabanga, chairman of the Daveyton Golf Club, said about the day: “To be honest, it was a bit of surprise.
“We never expected it to be like this when FTB first approached us.
“We thought it was just talk and simply a round of golf, but they have taught us a thing or two about organising a golf event.
“To have our juniors, our main concern, participating today was special for us as it teaches them that this game really is for everybody.
“I really enjoyed it when I saw those big smiles on the faces of our juniors afterwards.
“I hope that they have learnt something today, because they will be the ones holding down the fort here at Daveyton Golf Club in the future.”
He praised BCC and Millington in particular for teaching his committee about good golf course maintenance.
“We are thankful that there are people who go out of their way and use their own resources to share this game of golf with us and who allow us to have access to good facilities.
“It makes us feel that we are accepted in the golf community.
“Soon we will be able to uncover the Ernie Els of the location.”
Mabanga added: “ForeTheBoys came here and made this club their home.
“They came here and stole the show on our home-ground.
“We are truly grateful to them and hope to welcome them back again soon.”
Smit said that the golf school will be returning on an annual, and possibly bi-annual, basis to continue to draw attention to community golf development.
Meanwhile, the FTB chairman has encouraged and challenged other golf schools (which are usually perceived as “drinking clubs with a golfing problem”) to do something similar and to give back to the golf community.
“You can’t just be a social group that only contributes to Living Standards Measure (LSM) one.
“You have got to start contributing to LSM four or five and bring other people up.”
“To the other golf schools out there, we encourage you to better us.”
CLICK HERE for a GALLERY of more images from the day.
WATCH: A VIDEO of the development of the Hammond Pole ForeTheBoys Daveyton Golf Day Initiative:
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