Dube doing what he does best
Dube will be hoping to achieve national recognition from the PGA of South Africa.
Kenneth Dube, golf director and club professional at Royal Oak Country Club, has again received plaudits for the work that he does.
Dube has been voted by fellow regional professionals of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) of South Africa as the top Gauteng Central club professional for the year.
It is the second time that he has been voted for this award by his golfing associates.
The regional phase of the annual awards completed with the regional voting concluding on June 22.
The local golf pro and fellow winning regional members from Gauteng North, Southern and Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have gone through to the national voting process that was launched on July 4.
“It’s a nice achievement to win the Gauteng Central Award,” he told the Herald.
“It’s a lovely feeling knowing that my fellow professionals have voted me as the Professional of the Year.
“There have been and still are a lot of challenges to come for golf clubs.
“There is the challenge of people no longer playing golf because of the tough economy.
“We have to create new and fresh ways to run and to promote our golf clubs in order to get feet through the door.”
Dube has long been involved with the development of junior golfers from all walks of life.
“The Kenneth Dube Golf Academy is running very well,” he said.
“Impala Platinum has extended their sponsorship of the junior academy for another year.
“One of my ‘laaities’ Mzwakhe Nkomo is now a PGA professional which means we are going somewhere.
“You can see what we are producing here.
“I am very proud of what we are doing with the academy; development is the way forward for the club.”
On the golfing side of things Dube has, this year, not been as active on the greens and fairways of professional golf tournaments.
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“I took a bit of break from the tour because I wanted to build up a few things here at Royal Oak, which I have done.
“We have changed the course completely to comply with the requirements of the new World Handicap System with new tee boxes to ensure men and women play on an equal footing.”
The new handicap systems aim for flexibility in formats of play, allowing both competitive and recreational rounds to count for handicap purposes and ensuring that a golfer’s handicap is more reflective of potential ability.
Dube has also spent a lot of time and effort into his pet project of redesigning the 15th hole at the course which experienced a sinkhole collapse last year.
A new green and fairway is currently under construction on this hole and Dube is hoping to see it officially completed by October.
“Things are exciting here at Royal Oak and I must thank my committee for their efforts in ensuring that we run a good show here.”
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