Golf sensation flies high at Kempton Park Golf Club

Phumlani Maluka hopes to be the next global golf sensation.

Phumlani is a greenkeeper at the Kempton Park Golf Club, who also teaches others how to play golf.

The 27-year-old fell in love with golf at the age of nine.

“My parents are very influential in my passion for golf. I used to play soccer and they would take me to play golf on Sundays as a family. That is how I fell in love with the sport,” he said.

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He added he is grateful that his parents never forced him to follow a certain career path.

“My parents let me choose to follow whatever makes me happy.”

Phumlani studied turf management at the African Turf Academy.

Armed with his international qualifications, Phumlani can travel the world.

He explained that turf management is not just watering the grass.

“You need to learn the seasons, you need to learn how to mix chemicals and you also need to know how many millimetres to cut the grass.

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“They did not force me to study. I did it on my time and at my own pace. That is why I did it passionately,” he added.

Phumlani has now been allowed for a lifetime to spread his wings and to play golf as well as do turf management in America.

“It is still under wraps at the moment, I don’t want to say much about it, but I will be going to America later this year.

“It is a great place to learn about golf and I will bring that knowledge back home,” he said.

He added he would like to reach out to people and teach them about golf.

He got mentored to get where he is now and it would not take anything from him to do the same for someone else.

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Phumlani would like to encourage people to get into golf.

“I want people to stop shying away from golf because I knew it as a ‘rich sport’. Anyone can get into golf.

“You meet influential people on the golf course that can make a difference in your life,” he said.