Ballito golf champ swaps a successful swing for a simpler life

Seven-time Sunshine Tour golf champion, Warren Abery, has swopped his silky swing for a simpler life on the North Coast.

Now the co-owner of Ballito-based House of Golf, he played professionally for almost 20 years, competing in all corners of the globe.

Born and raised in Durban, Abery played his early golf at the Royal Durban Golf Club, forming a deadly club team with the Sabbatini brothers.

Golf was not always his first choice sport, and he only began playing regularly at 13 while at Glenwood High School.

“I loved most sports, but recognised that I was not going to go far in rugby being on the small side. My parents said I needed to focus on one sport and golf seemed a natural fit,” he said.

With the full support of his parents, which allowed him to practice daily, Abery had a successful start to competitive golf.

As an amateur he won back-to-back Natal Amateur Championship titles in 1994 and 1995, also winning the South African Amateur Championship in 1995.

The following year he was selected for the South African team competing in the historic Eisenhower Cup in the Philippines.

His professional career began the same way, winning tournaments in just his second year on tour.

“With 3 other players I spent a few years travelling through America and Canada to try and get on the PGA Tour.”

Carrying his own bag and driving a station wagon through some lesser known parts of the USA, Abery experienced the less glamourous side of the gentleman’s game.

Back in South Africa however, Abery had his best year in 2005, winning the SA PGA Championship, a victory he describes as his fondest golfing memory.

This earned him his first European Tour card and he rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s best, playing in the British Open the following year.

“Playing at Royal Liverpool was an incredible experience. To play in a major is obviously a career goal for every golfer and I was pleased to tick that box.”

Abery would earn one more European card in 2011, by which time he had already started a family and became aware of a shift in his priorities.

With 2 young children at home and a new house being built in Simbithi, he realised his time as a pro was coming to an end.

He played his final tour event in 2016, finishing a distinguished career which saw him enter the top 200 in the world, while winning 2 of the 3 ‘triple crown’ tournaments in South Africa – The SA

PGA and the SA Masters.

In November he opened a golf equipment and fitting store in Ballito with partners Graham Wood and Micky Hough.

The North Coast, he says, is a fitting home for him, having once shot a career best of 59 at Umhlali County Club many moons ago.

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