Golf Development

Gail Witcomb – Golfers that make this world a better place

Shanelle Del Lange – Changing the Course for Womens Golf in South Africa

Team North’s Charlene Pienaar hopes her appearances at the SADGA Provincial Challenge will serve to inspire the next generation of female golfers in disabled golf, writes Craig Stirton.  Pienaar’s Team North selection for the 2020 SADGA Provincial Challenge was a historic moment as she became the first female to play in the interprovincial event. She followed it up by playing her way onto the team again in 2021.  Pienaar hopes such achievements show other young women that their disabilities don’t define who they are.  “You know you can show other younger women that they can still carry on with their lives despite what has happened,” she said. “They shouldn’t let that [their disability] be a stumbling block in their lives.” Pienaar’s words carry extra weight as someone who has encountered her fair share of stumbling blocks. Prior to her 21st birthday, she was involved in a car accident which left her with just five-percent vision.  Reading texts – an essential for somebody studying towards a BCom Marketing degree – became incredibly difficult and forced Pienaar to suspend her studies for three years. Of the immediate challenges she faced – Pienaar said it was the loss of day-to-day independence which affected her the most. “It was extremely difficult because you were independent and now all of a sudden you are dependent on people to take you all over and you battle to see – especially when you need to go and read something for instance on a box – you cannot read it anymore. You need a magnifying glass or something which can enlarge it. Especially on your laptop as well – I’m actually using software to enlarge text.”  Despite having her life altered so drastically, Pienaar maintains an admirable outlook on life.  “Sometimes stuff happens in your life but at the end of the day God actually gives you the strength to carry on, to persevere and to push through.” Having participated in both hockey and karate at school – her visual impairment appeared to have brought an end to her sporting endeavours. Some sixteen years after the accident, her parents happened upon a sport she could play even with her Visual Impairment – golf.  “My parents actually watched the tv news and they phoned me to say they’d seen Blind people playing golf. My mom asked me why I don’t try it and that’s how I started,” Pienaar recalls.  Unlike Physically-Disabled golfers, Blind players have the added challenge of relying immensely on guides to set them up as Pienaar explains.  “Any visually Impaired person needs a caddy to assist them to check where their ball goes because I cannot see where my ball goes – or in which direction I need to hit the ball because I cannot see far and I can’t see close so basically I only see stuff that’s right on the ground,” she says.  “They basically need to line me up and tell me ‘little bit more to the left, little bit more to your right’ and then they need to check where your ball is going. So yes, your caddy is actually your eyes. You’re totally dependent on them.” As her game has developed over the years so she has established herself as a player to watch in both the SA Blind Golf sphere and the Disabled Golf realm too. In 2016, she won the Development Trophy at the SA Blind Golf Open and has also had a couple of solid showings at the Canon SA Disabled Golf Open. As for her future aspirations, Pienaar hopes that incremental progress will help her earn national colours one day. “It is important to enjoy every single moment and to strive to improve every single day with regard to your golf and eventually I hope to one day represent South Africa,” she says.  With the strength of character she has shown in the face of some daunting challenges in her life, look for Charlene Pienaar to achieve that and more in the not too distant future. 

Excitement brews as golf development programme tees off in Orange Farm ORANGE FARM, April 20 – More and more girls between the ages of six and seventeen years old will be introduced to the game of golf for the first time in their lives as the second season of the Standard Bank Pro-Am Series and the Standard Bank Golf Development Programme returns this week. Created by Lifestyle Golf who are the founders and promoters of the Standard Bank Pro-Am Series, the Golf Development Programme aims to take the game of golf directly to the girls and create an interest and excitement for the game, and generate support for them within their communities while exposing them to the best coaches in the country for further development. “We are excited to start with the programme again,” said Jenny Havenga, founder of the Golf Development Programme. “We had a lot of success last year with the programme and we were very satisfied with the responses we received from the communities. This programme aims to introduce as many young girls as possible to the game of golf and we think that we are on the right track.” The programme began last year at Serengeti Golf Estates where 30 young girls were inducted into the programme and taken through a six-week course, where the objective was to give the girls an introduction into the game of golf. These girls completed levels one to three of the programme which was being delivered by the Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA). Another group of 30 – in Orange Farm and at around the same time – were being taken through the same programme and completed all the levels.  These two groups will now embark on levels 3 to 6 as they continue their development under the tutelage of some of the most respected coaches in the country. In addition, two more regions – Eastern Cape and Western Cape – have been added to the schedule to widen the reach and find more girls to introduce to golf. “Last season was a resounding success for us and we wanted to make this year’s instalment of the programme even bigger,” Havenga added, “and we felt we should take it to other parts of the country. We aim to introduce as many girls as possible to the game of golf and this is just a start. We are grateful to have a sponsor like Standard Bank for this programme because it helps us drive women’s golf from the grassroots level. “We want to continue championing golf development for women and having a partner like the WPGA is very valuable because, through their expertise, we’ll be able to identify and nurture young talent and hopefully be able to set these girls right on their way to becoming better human beings. “As you know, we have partnered with leading professional, Nobuhle Dlamini, who is a source of inspiration for many young girls from this programme and that shows the level of commitment we have in this project; and the level of inspiration we want to bring to these girls.” Level three to level six of the training programme begins at Nomimi Primary School in Orange Farm on Wednesday to kickstart the new season. Schalk Kotze, Standard Bank Head of Affluent: Consumer and High Net Worth Clients South Africa, said, “At Standard Bank we pride ourselves for driving Africa’s growth and this programme is just one such example. We appreciate what development means and that is why our support for this programme and the Series itself is unwavering. Golf is such a beautiful sport and we all need to play a part in making sure it is a sport that is accessible to everyone, especially the girl child.” The Standard Bank Pro-Am Series aims to drive the development of female players at the grassroots level and empower talented professional female golfers by creating opportunities for more playing time which will enable them to hone their skills further.  For more information, contact Lifestyle Golf – Jenny Havenga or Gina Read.