Ken Borland

An inquisitive Kurrichane Thrush

The Alfred Dunhill Championship is a prestige golf tournament co-hosted by Southern Africa’s Sunshine Tour and the European Tour, held every summer at the famous Leopard Creek estate outside Malelane. The best part of covering this event is that I get to stay at River Cottage, one of the finest bed and breakfast guesthouses I have had the pleasure of frequenting.

The “River” it is named after is the famous Crocodile River on the southern border of the Kruger National Park and River Cottage is right on the riverside, with an elevated view on to South Africa’s most famous game reserve.

Apart from the spacious units, which are fully equipped for those wanting to self-cater, River Cottage also has beautiful gardens which attract a wealth of birdlife that is slightly different to that found along the river. It’s not often you find a place that combines a sense of wilderness in the pristine bushveld with such comfort.

I have a wonderful start to every day at River Cottage, getting up early to do a circuit of the gardens and the riverfront before sitting down for the sumptuous breakfast and then heading off to work at the golf.

The delicious prospect of what denizens of Kruger Park are down at the river is exciting enough, but first one wanders through the trees of the garden and past some grassy areas that the seedeaters love, collecting a host of Lowveld species. The owners of River Cottage are clearly lovers of the botanical as well, with name tags on the flora and they have planted typical bushveld trees, including even a Baobab and a Mopane, well south of their natural range.

They are not the only inhabitants of further north to be found at River Cottage. While walking along the bank overlooking the river, I became aware of a distinctive purring call coming from high in the trees on the garden side.

It’s a call that always gives me a cheesy grin because it belongs to the African Mourning Dove, one of my favourite Columbids. It is a more typical bird of the restcamps way further north in Kruger Park, such as Satara, Letaba, Mopani and Shingwedzi, with the southern edge of its range usually being north of the bottom camps like Skukuza and Lower Sabie.

African Mourning Dove do love riverine woodland and they are also very fond of Ana Trees, so perhaps it was not too surprising to see one all the way down at the Crocodile River, but it is certainly the furthest south I have ever come across this species.

The River Cottage gardens also attract Brownheaded Parrots to the taller trees and a fruiting fig tree close to the main house hid a few in the canopy, as always they were tough to see but their screeching calls gave them away.

The lapa and sun-deck next to the swimming pool are ideal spots to keep a close watch on the Crocodile River and Great White and Little Egret, Blacksmith Plover, African Jacana, Blackwinged Stilt, Grey, Squacco and Greenbacked Heron, Egyptian and Spurwinged Goose, African Pied Wagtail, Reed and Whitebreasted Cormorant, Spottedbacked and Thickbilled Weaver, Lesser Striped Swallow, Woodland, Pied and Malachite Kingfisher, African Spoonbill, Sacred Ibis, Water Dikkop, African Darter, African Fish Eagle and Natal Francolin are all usually present and easily spotted along the banks.

Egyptian Goose taking off from River Cottage, across the Crocodile River. Note the steep terrain on the Kruger National Park side.

Even less common birds like the Horus Swift, Lesser Masked Weaver and Redfaced Cisticola, which pops up in the reedbeds and other riverside vegetation with its bright silky-white chest and loud, piercing call, are often seen.

Nile Crocodiles are almost always present along this stretch of river that bears their name, while Waterbuck, African Elephant and Impala are usually hanging around.

A troop of Banded Mongoose sometimes ventures down from the surrounding woodland and there is even one family living on the property, while it is always interesting watching the Nile Monitors go about their predatory business either in or around the water.

As the riverine trees thin out heading away from the water, the grass gets longer and rank and a different suite of birds can be seen.

Dusky Flycatcher, Orangebreasted Bush Shrike, Paradise Flycatcher, Arrowmarked Babbler, Whitebellied and Collared Sunbird, Spectacled Weaver and Plumcoloured Starling still prefer some trees around, many of them hosting a resident Southern Tree Agama, but the more scrubby areas attract birds like Whitewinged Widow, Blue Waxbill, Bronze Mannikin, Redbilled Quelea, Yellowfronted Canary and Burchell’s Coucal.

There is probably no finer spot to enjoy the creatures of the Kruger National Park from outside the reserve.

Where is River Cottage?

Sightings List

Kurrichane Thrush

Speckled Mousebird

Dusky Flycatcher

Great White Egret

Blacksmith Plover

Striped Skink

African Jacana

Blackwinged Stilt

Grey Heron

Egyptian Goose

African Pied Wagtail

Reed Cormorant

Spottedbacked Weaver

Horus Swift

Nile Crocodile

Lesser Striped Swallow

Waterbuck

Thickbilled Weaver

Orangebreasted Bush Shrike

Woodland Kingfisher

Yellowbilled Kite

Redeyed Dove

Whitewinged Widow

Forktailed Drongo

Squacco Heron

Greenbacked Heron

African Palm Swift

Glossy Starling

Brownheaded Parrot

Banded Mongoose

Blackeyed Bulbul

Paradise Flycatcher

African Spoonbill

Sacred Ibis

Malachite Kingfisher

Water Dikkop

Laughing Dove

Whitebreasted Cormorant

Southern Tree Agama

African Elephant

Hadeda Ibis

Arrowmarked Babbler

Blue Waxbill

Whiterumped Swift

African Darter

Pied Kingfisher

Impala

Bronze Mannikin

Grey Lourie

Common Myna

African Fish Eagle

Little Egret

Lesser Masked Weaver

Redbilled Quelea

Redfaced Cisticola

Whitebellied Sunbird

Yellowfronted Canary

African Mourning Dove

Spectacled Weaver

Collared Sunbird

Burchell’s Coucal

Helmeted Guineafowl

Plumcoloured Starling

Spurwinged Goose

Nile Monitor

Natal Francolin

The revitalisation of a bankrupt clothing factory in Durban would not seem to have any obvious links to South African golfing legend Ernie Els, but such is the scope of the four-time Major champion’s commitments these days that he can take part of the credit for the Royal Green Clothing Company now being a thriving concern.

While the South African clothing industry has been ravaged by cheap overseas imports, Royal Green now makes 2000 garments a day for the Ernie Els Collection, which is run by Global Golf and for which Els himself launched a new distribution deal this week with Barron, who describe themselves as “the largest and most trusted corporate and promotional brand in Africa”.

The involvement of Els in his range of golf attire extends to him having a say in the designs, with The Big Easy saying he wanted the shirts to be “as comfortable when you’re swinging a golf club as when you’re drinking a beer”.

The 49-year-old is also involved in the wine industry and course design business, and is also the current President’s Cup captain, preparing for their biennial contest with the United States in Melbourne in a year’s time. He also devotes plenty of his time to the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation to assist young golfers and his Els for Autism charity he started in the wake of his son, Ben, being diagnosed with the condition. And the father of two is also still playing regular top-level golf and finished inside the top-15 in the prestigious South African Open last December at Randpark Golf Club.

So how does Els juggle all these commitments?

“It’s fun and I still love the game we play, it has never felt like a job to me, whether I’m six-putting a green or being a champion seventy times around the world. I’ve forged some nice partnerships and friendships through golf and these other commitments are just an extension of my golf. I’ve forged friendships around the world but I always wanted to do something with South Africans.

“This clothing factory, Royal Green, is the perfect way to do that and I first met Langley Perrins of Global Golf when we spent my 21^st birthday together in a foreign city when we were both young golfers trying to make it. I met my wife, Liezl, at a wine farm and for nearly 20 years we’ve been making wine out of Stellenbosch. Autism touched my family and Liezl has been the driving force of that work, she’s made it very prominent,” Els said.

The fact that The Big Easy is able to combine such a laidback demeanour with an undiluted passion for the game is probably what makes him so popular with the public, even after all these years. Even though there are players in the top-50 of the world rankings like Louis Oosthuizen, Matt Wallace and Branden Grace in the field, Els has still boasted some of the biggest galleries following him around Randpark.

Apart from holding events for the Ernie Els Collection and Els for Autism, the former world number one, now 591^st in the rankings, also hosted the prizegiving for the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation which funds the education and golf instruction of youths from underprivileged backgrounds.

“The foundation started 20 years ago and we’re trying to support the education of these boys and girls and their endeavours in golf. It has evolved quite a bit since then and I feel very proud when I see professionals who have come through the foundation. I was privileged enough, because of the great backing from my Dad, Neels, and my mother, Hettie, to be able to elevate my game to higher levels, but I knew some of my mates at the time couldn’t do that.

“So the foundation looks to make that process easier, to give these youngsters a better chance of becoming what they want to be. It all starts with junior golf, there is no other way, no shortcut to the top. You need hard work, a love for the sport and you need to get a few breaks. And you have to show character to come back from disaster,” Els said at the prizegiving.

The five-time SA Open champion, while delighted to still be mixing it with the youngsters out on the course, is also using this week’s tournament as a reconnaissance mission. As part of his duties as President’s Cup captain, he has to keep an eye on all the contenders for the International team, players like Charl Schwartzel, Justin Harding, Grace and Brandon Stone.

“It’s important for me to play with the youngsters as President’s Cup captain, I need to be relevant. I’m really looking forward to next December in Melbourne and I want to get it right. I think I know what the players need because I’m playing quite a bit just to see them in action. I won a couple of times in Melbourne as well, so I can give them some local knowledge.

“So I need to stay close to the players, to stay relevant to captain them properly. It’s fun and I’m excited about it. Even if I’m not competing day by day, I’m quietly going about playing good golf still. Shooting 60s at my age is really nice and I would obviously love to win again, but my consistency is not what it should be,” Els said.

But there is no doubt that the World Golf Hall of Fame member since 2010 remains consistently relevant to the game all around the world.

https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/special-feature/2047402/at-49-ernie-els-remains-highly-relevant-to-golf-globally/

Sport has always been a passion for the Joburg born-and-bred Stacy Bregman, and the life of an international golfer, travelling the world, is proving to be a dream come true for the 32-year-old.

Although she has won a handful of titles on the Sunshine Ladies Tour and is yet to bask in the winner’s circle on the Ladies European Tour, for sheer consistency, one can only admire Bregman’s efforts overseas, where she is certainly keeping the South African flag flying high.

Bregman is currently 12^th on the LET order of merit, having already raked in over half-a-million euro in career earnings, and is heading for another impressive finish and a decent payday at the Women’s Indian Open in New Delhi, where she signed for a 69 on Friday to jump to 16^th on the leaderboard.

She is in the top-10 in the stats for stroke average and greens-in-regulation, both great measures of consistent golf, but for Bregman it is the hard work she has put into her long game that is behind those impressive numbers.

“I’m very happy with today’s round on a really tough course, it’s easy to get big numbers here and yesterday my 76 was down to just one triple-bogey. I’ve been delighted with my year, all the changes I’ve made seem to be paying off because I’m playing very consistent golf since I had a bit of a restructuring to my game.

“I’ve started working with Grant Veenstra, who is making a huge difference to my game, it’s much better now because I’m a lot better off the tee now. Hitting a lot more fairways is really the key to playing better golf and getting more birdies. My putting has also been really good, so it’s all been paying off,” Bregman told The Citizen from the DLF Golf and Country Club on Friday.

Ensuring local women’s golfers have strong enough competition in South Africa to prepare them for overseas tours has previously been a concern, but Bregman feels her time on the Sunshine Tour provided her with a solid footing in Europe.

“The Sunshine Tour is a great stepping stone if you want to compete in Europe. For example the South African Open now has a lot of European golfers coming over for that and a lot of them play in the other tournaments as well. So the level of play is really going up and up as the overseas players strengthen the fields,” Bregman said.

Bregman’s game is also on the up and a maiden Ladies European Tour title could be just around the corner; her second-place finish in the French Open last month certainly showed how close she is to winning. Bregman shot a superb 66 in the final round, but was beaten to glory by two strokes by a tremendous 62 by Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, a six-time European Tour winner who also plays on the LPGA Tour in America.

“I just need to keep doing what I’m doing, I was pretty close to winning in France and that gave me a huge confidence boost. It showed that it is possible for me to win over here, but I’m just going to try and finish the season as best I can. I can’t predict when I’m going to win, I just have to go through all the learning experiences and keep working hard,” Bregman said.

While the life of a global traveller is appealing to Bregman, her time off the course is devoted to catching up with friends and family and also contributing to rhino conservation.

“I love travelling, I could never spend my life behind a desk, but when you’re on a long stretch like I am now of 10-12 weeks then you do miss home. So off the course I spend my time with friends and family because I don’t see them often.

“As a professional golfer, it’s very difficult to find time for a hobby, but as an African I do love wild animals. Which is why I’ve chosen to support Birdies for Rhinos, they play a very big part in rhino conservation and it’s a very good cause. I really don’t like it when I read what has happened to the rhinos being poached,” Bregman said.

Bregman, together with Ashleigh Buhai (then Simon) and Kelli Shean secured South Africa’s only victory in the history of the World Amateur Team Championships when they triumphed in Stellenbosch in 2006, and she turned pro at the end of that year.

Finishing her amateur career with the world amateur title was probably not that much of a surprise given that Bregman spent her formative years working with Neville Sundelson, one of South Africa’s amateur golfing legends.

“I was good at all sports, whether with a ball or not, and I went quite high in the karate world, getting national junior colours. I played tennis as well and actually loved that more than golf at that stage, but I stopped off at Killarney Country Club one afternoon to join my friend on the driving range and Neville spotted me.

“He’s a good friend and he took me under his wing, and long story short, I chose golf because he said I had the potential to make a profession out of it. He was a great player and he passed on so much of his wisdom to me, and his time and effort made me what I am today,” Bregman said.

As one of the trailblazers for South African women’s golf overseas, Bregman is no doubt having a similarly inspirational effect on local youngsters coming through.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20181020/282759177645616

Henrik Stenson always said he would return to Sun City for the Nedbank Golf Challenge and his presence in the 2015 field was rewarded with a place in the lead three-ball when the draw was conducted on Tuesday.

The former world number one, who won the 2008 Nedbank Golf Challenge by nine strokes, is the highest-ranked golfer in the 30-man field at number seven and will join defending champion Danny Willett and South African Louis Oosthuizen in the 11.49am tee-off on Thursday, the last three-ball off.

Stenson has the incredibly consistent record of finishing no worse than fourth in his previous five appearances at Gary Player Country Club and was the runner-up in the 2015 FedEx Cup standings.

Charl Schwartzel, who was able to find some winning form in last weekend’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, is in the penultimate three-ball, off at 11.38am, with compatriot Jaco van Zyl and French dazzler Victor Dubuisson.

Branden Grace, who is now the highest-ranked South African golfer at number 15, is off at 11.16am with Australian Steven Bowditch and Byeong Hun-An of South Korea.

The other South African in the field, Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner Thomas Aiken, finds himself in the 10.43am three-ball in the company of Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and Germany’s two-time major winner Martin Kaymer.

Round 1 draw

10:10 – Marc Leishman (Australia), Søren Kjeldsen (Denmark), Webb Simpson (United States)

10:21 – Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Robert Streb (United States), Scott Piercy (United States)

10:32 – Russell Knox (Scotland), Bernd Wiesberger (Austria), Andy Sullivan (England)

10:43 –Tommy Fleetwood (England), Thomas Aiken (South Africa), Martin Kaymer (Germany)

10:54 – Matthew Fitzpatrick (England), Ross Fisher (England), Keegan Bradley (United States)

11:05 – Shane Lowry (Ireland), Lee Westwood (England), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)

11:16 – Steven Bowditch (Australia), Byeong Hun-An (South Korea), Branden Grace (South Africa)

11:27 – Miguel Angel Jiménez (Spain), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Chris Wood (England)

11:38 – Jaco van Zyl (South Africa), Victor Dubuisson (France), Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)

11:49 – Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa), Danny Willett (England)