Ken Borland

PORT EDWARD (KwaZulu-Natal) – Joseph Kunene has been a successful SA Golf Development Board coach for 25 years and on Thursday his newest clutch of eager youngsters was on display at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club as they took part in one of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series’ development clinics.

Kunene’s current brood comprises 30 children, split evenly between the Durban, Margate and Wild Coast areas, and aged between eight and 14 years old. His previous groups have included wonderful success stories like Siyanda Mwandla, the ex Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation member, and fellow professionals Thanda Mavundla and Sabelo Majola.

“I am currently managing the SAGDB programme in KwaZulu-Natal and I have been a coach for them since 1999, when I applied for the post of development officer with the KZN Golf Union,” Kunene explains.

“Players like Thanda Mavundla, who is playing in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Pro-Am today, and Siyanda Mwandla and Sabelo Majola have all come through this programme.

“But for the last three years I have been focused on mass participation more, starting from scratch again. These kids are still in the beginning stages and the better ones in this group are like a 21-handicap. But for all the kids, these clinics are a real eye-opener because they see professionals in the flesh, coaching them. They’re not just seeing them on TV and it gives them hope. One day their wish will hopefully be to become a professional as well.”

Kunene started playing the game when he was 14 years old in Newcastle, working as a caddy at the Durnacol Golf Club. His excellence saw him become the club’s strokeplay and matchplay champion between 1994 and 1998. Kunene also showed his willingness to give back as he served on the club’s executive committee as the vice-captain for two years.

“I discovered that I loved the game and then I applied for the development officer job, and in my 25 years with the SA Golf Development Board, I have travelled all over KZN. But it’s your passion for the game that drives you, Kunene says.

JOHANNESBURG – Danie van Tonder’s ability to ignore all the bumf that comes with the pressure of winning and simply trust his attacking instincts once again paid off as he eagled the 18^th hole to put himself in a playoff which he then won in the Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge at Kyalami Country Club on Friday.

Van Tonder, who started the final round four strokes off the lead, first of all chipped in to eagle the 480m par-five closing hole in regulation play to complete a brilliant six-under-par 66 and leap to 14-under-par for the tournament.

The 33-year-old then had to wait to see if his clubhouse lead withstood the challenge of the last three two-balls. The eagle proved crucial as both Yurav Premlall and Martin Rohwer shot four-under-par 68s to also finish on 14-under, sending the trio into a sudden death-playoff on the 18th.

Premlall was eliminated on the second play-off hole as he made par and Van Tonder and Rohwer both birdied the par-five. After replaying the last hole three times, they then took on the par-three 17^th, which Van Tonder had bogeyed in regulation play. Another excellent chip shot, this time out of a bunker, set up victory for the 10^th time on the Sunshine Tour.

“I was frustrated when I stood on the 18^th tee in regulation play because I was unlucky twice on 17. First I had a bad bounce with my tee-shot that went over the green, but I hit a great chip, only for the par-putt to horseshoe out. I knew it was a big putt,” Van Tonder said.

“I also knew I had to make eagle on the last to have a chance, so we took driver and tried to get as close as possible to the water. I had a five-iron in, which finished just right of the green. I said ‘Take the pin out!’ because I knew there had to be space for the ball, and then I chipped in.

“We then went back to 17 in the playoff and Martin and I were both in the greenside bunker. He hit a good shot to about three metres, but I was able to put it within a foot and make the par,” Van Tonder said matter-of-factly about two extraordinary moments of self-belief.

The Serengeti Estate golfer has earned himself a hunky wad of cash in the last month, having also won the FNB Eswatini Challenge on August 3, and the 2021 SA Open champion (winning at Gary Player Country Club) said he was pleased his hard work on his game since returning from Europe is paying off.

“I’ve been playing well for a while, so it’s nice to be able to pluck the fruit from the tree, so to speak. They call me the Silent Assassin and the camera is never on me back in the field, but the game is there,” Van Tonder said.

Premlall had birdied the 18^th to get into the playoff, but fell just short of his maiden Sunshine Tour title, while Rohwer had moved to 14-under with a birdie on the par-five 13^th, but he just could not grab another opportunity to move ahead.

Ruan Conradie (66), Christian Kriek (68) and Altin van der Merwe (69) finished tied for fourth on 11-under-par, while overnight leader Jonathan Broomhead made too many mistakes in the final round, suffering five bogeys in a 74 that left him on 10-under, tied for seventh with Malcolm Mitchell (68), Lyle Rowe (69), Christiaan Burke (71) and Jean Hugo (71).

DULLSTROOM (Mpumalanga) – Vodacom Bulls legend Akona Ndungane is clearly comfortable with change and, having mastered the gales around Highland Gate Golf and Trout Estate, he turned his attention to rugby and said it was no surprise Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has not just massaged his starting line-up for their second Rugby Championship Test against Australia but made a massive 10 changes to the run-on XV.

Ndungane is an avid golfer who plays off a five handicap, but playing in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Pro-Am Series is a first for the 43-year-old. It was also the first time he has played at Highland Gate, the 6717m course perched 2000m above sea level in the valleys and mountains of the Steenkampsberge. And then to make the challenge even more daunting, the wind blew at 30km/h on the first day of the pro-am.

“This is the first Vodacom Origins of Golf Pro-Am I’ve played in and it’s wonderful,” Ndungane said. “I love golf, both watching it and playing, and to be around the pros is really special. Just to be here at this beautiful course is amazing, especially for me, being my first time playing here.

“What an experience, especially with the wind blowing so hard it felt like the Western Cape or a coastal course. But our pros, Cara Gorlei and Keenan Davdise, were great company and I got to play with my mate OG Molefe. So it was a great outing, and we managed to lead after the first round.

“When conditions are tough, the quality comes through because you have to be more focused. If you hit it in the rough, then it was very tough, even to just try and find your ball. But the greens are firm and nice,” the former Springbok wing said.

Quality is also something the 2007 Rugby World Cup winner sees in the Springbok set-up at the moment. Ndungane believes the squad has advanced well in the development of their more attacking game, allowing Erasmus more flexibility in selection ahead of Saturday’s match against the Wallabies in Perth.

“In a way I expected that sort of start last week because we have seen the game-plan they are trying to implement. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is in amazing form and starting at flyhalf allows him to free himself, to express himself. They all seem to be really enjoying their rugby at the moment.

“They beat Australia 33-7, but the Wallabies were fortunate not to concede fifty points the way the Springboks dominated first phase, defence and attack. Those yellow cards at the end helped them.

“But it’s no surprise Dr Rassie has made so many changes. He’s trying to build depth and give players quality opportunities to see if they can cope. When you’re in a good place then you’re able to make changes. And I don’t think this team is really any weaker than last weekend’s.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing Lukhanyo Am playing at 12. We saw how good he was in his comeback against Portugal, even though injury has unfortunately slowed him down a bit. It’s an exciting combination in the backline with Sacha, Lukhanyo and Jesse Kriel playing together,” Ndungane said.

Mark Boucher finished his tenure as Proteas coach with what he acknowledged was the worst result of his three-year term, but he absolved the coaching staff of any blame in the shock T20 World Cup loss to the Netherlands, implying the fault was squarely with the players.

“As coach, yes, it is the worst of the lot. It’s frustrating because as a player you still have a say, but as coach you leave it up to others to perform. Looking at the coaching staff, we ticked every box and we thought the guys were in a very good space,” Boucher said.

“At the start of the tournament, we would have taken having to beat the Netherlands to get into the semi-finals. We’ve got a good team and we believe on a given day we can beat anyone.

“That’s why the loss is so disappointing and we only have ourselves to blame. We were never really in the game, the Netherlands could come out and play brave cricket and we just weren’t able to get the momentum back on our side.

“We mustn’t look at one or two players, we need to look at the whole squad and they simply were not good enough today. The bottom line is we did not play well enough,” Boucher said.

Many articles have been devoted to why the Proteas consistently under-perform at World Cups, but Boucher said the team had shown their mettle in tight wins before, like over India in their third match of the tournament.

“I believe each world cup exit has been an individual event, although I know there is a lot of history. We have really played some good cricket in the T20 format, but we lost to Pakistan and looked flat today.

“The energy just did not seem to be there and we did not bowl or bat the way we should have. We certainly should have been better, but it just didn’t happen.

“But it’s not the only upset in this tournament, some very good sides have been beaten by so-called ‘lesser’ teams. The more we don’t do well at World Cups, it does start to play on your mind.

“But we’ve played tight games and won. I’m gutted, to be honest. The players really deserved to give themselves a better chance,” Boucher said.