Hayes Classic attracks golfers countrywide

Golfers of Nelspruit, White River, Hazyview and as far afield as Johannesburg came to participate.
Players teed off to a shotgun start at 11:00. The competition format for the day was Dale’s Trip. The players enjoyed the newly revamped course and it proved to be challenging yet enjoyable for most.
Dale Hayes, a professional South African golfer, won the 15-17 boys category at the Junior World Golf Championships in 1969. He turned professional the following year and quickly became a successful pro. He won more than a dozen events in the country, and was runner-up on the South African Tour Order of Merit in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1979. In 1974 he won the World Cup of Golf for South Africa in with Bobby Cole.
In 1971 Hayes won the Spanish Open at the age of 18, becoming the youngest winner on the European Tour, a record which stood until Danny Lee won the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic. By 1973 he was fourth on the European Tour Order of Merit, improving to second in 1974 and first in 1975. He finished in the top four in 1978 and 1979, but very seldom played professional golf after his late 20s.
Hayes has remained involved in the sport in a number of ways. He has worked as a broadcaster in South Africa and for The Golf Channel; started and edited a golf magazine; and founded an Internet golf shopping business.
He is involved in course design through a company called Matkovich & Hayes, although he deals only with marketing and public relations.
The design is handled by business partner Peter Matkovich. Hayes also works as a public speaker and offers golf clinics.