Super golf from senior Allan Eriksen
He more than held his own against some quality opposition.
It’s not often a 62 year-old is called a ‘rookie’ but that was the case for Allan Eriksen when he made his debut for the KwaZulu-Natal Super Seniors golf team recently.
Super Seniors golf is open to golfers 60 and older and Allan, who is a member at both Selborne Park and Scottburgh Golf Club, has come quite close to making the team before.
This year, though, he realised his goal and was thrilled to tee it up in black and white colours at the Super Seniors Interprovincial held at Pezula Golf Estate in Knysna.
KZN finished third, which the team was quite happy with, considering the depth some of the other provinces have.
The team got off to a ‘hot’ start, but not on the golf course.
“Our captain Richard Nel got a call before we started to say half his house had burnt down. After some thought he decided to stay on and he was impressive in how he pulled through, as a player and as captain,” said Allan.
The other teammates were Steve Cullen, Lynton Beckett, Poenie Holm and Max Magnussen.
The manager was Brian Olsen. Western Province won for the seventh time in a row.
Allan won two of his five foursomes matches playing with Max and three out of his five singles game.
Not bad at all for a ‘rookie’.
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“It was 36 holes a day under the pump, so there was pressure. The standard was high, with a number of former Springbok golfers taking part,” he said.
“I thought we might be out of our depth but in the end we were perhaps even a touch unlucky not to have finished second.”
The gale force winds may have helped the coastal teams a bit.
Allan said Pezula is similar to the Wild Coast Sun Country Club, built on the edge of a cliff, exposed to the wind, with a lot of elevation involved.
Fortunately the players were permitted to take carts.
“It’s definitely not a walking course, it’s a resort course frequented by a lot of overseas tourists. And hey, it is the seniors after all,” he laughed.
He particularly enjoyed the experience and will be doing his level best to regain selection next year.
“Many of these guys have played together and against each other, even from junior days, so there was wonderful camaraderie,” he said.
Next year the Seniors IPT will be earlier, in April, when the Super Seniors play at the same time and venue (again) as the regular seniors.
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