Retief Goosen decided in 2012 that he didn’t care if he never played golf again.

It was a decision based not on any hatred for the game, but on the debilitating back injury that left him in constant pain due to a disintegrating disc in his lower back.

One of South Africa’s finest golfers and a two-time U.S. Open champion, Goosen went under the knife in August 2012, unsure if his stellar career was over.

This week Goosen was holding his own against the best golfers on the European Tour, flirting with the top-20, in the prestigious Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, the penultimate event for the Race to Dubai order of merit. It is the first time he has played Africa’s Major since 2010, having won the event in 2004, and it is thanks to a sponsor’s invitation.

“Obviously it’s a great feeling to be back here, especially as a past champion, Sun City is one of my favourite golf courses in the world and they’ve taken this tournament to a different level.

“It’s an added bonus just to be here because I’m nowhere in the rankings, and when I got the call it was a big ‘Yes!’. Hopefully I can find some form, you never know, when you come back to somewhere you like, you tend to find some form.

“My health is very good though, the back is as good as it’s ever been. I wish I’d had the surgery much earlier. Having no pain is a major plus and everything about the back is better since the operation. I’m able to sleep again without any pain. At one stage I didn’t care if I never played golf again as long as I could get rid of the pain, I would have done anything to stop the constant pain,” Goosen said this week.

”It was impossible to go through 18 holes without getting spasms in the back and struggling to hit some shots on certain lies. At that stage, I pretty much felt like my career was over.”

Even though the titanium disc inserted in his back – he was the first professional golfer to undergo the procedure – has made him feel 10 years younger, Goosen says golf is now more of a pastime than a career for him.

“I’ve made my living so now I’m going to try and live life. Spend more time with Tracy and the kids (Leo and Ella), enjoy the things that I had to pass on before. Golf is definitely not the number one priority in my life anymore. My 48^th birthday is coming up in February and, although it was initially not easy cutting back, I’m now enjoying the few tournaments I do play, I’m not fighting myself so much.

“I’ve cut back my schedule, I’m definitely not playing 30 events a year. This year I’ll only play 16-18 tournaments and something similar next year. In a couple of years I’ll qualify for the Senior Tour and then who knows?” Goosen said.

The Polokwane product also owns a wine farm and a course-design business, as well as running a charitable foundation.

His wine estate, Ganzekraal, is the only wine farm in the Upper Langkloof district, located high in the Outeniqua mountain range, and is currently regarded as the coldest wine farm in the country. It is close to the coast and the cold sea breezes blow over the mountains and through the vineyards. The cold climate gives the grapes and his range of Goose wines unique characteristics.

The laconic Goosen is famous for his unflappable demeanour and, during his prime as one of the best golfers in the world in the early 2000s, he was much admired for the way he treated those twin imposters of success and failure with the same equanimity.

He has not won on the European Tour since 2007 and is winless in America since 2009, his world ranking having dropped to 189.

But Goosen remains a much-respected and admired golfer and his place in the record books as one of South Africa’s greatest is secure. He remains a drawcard and golf would be the poorer without him.

http://citizen.co.za/sport/sport-golf/1343430/goose-spreading-his-wings/

Retief Goosen kept the media happy on Saturday as he catered wonderfully to our two great loves for good wine and quality golf.

Goosen invited the media to his Upper Langkloof Valley wine farm, which is on the way to Uniondale from George, to sample some of his terrific Goose and Gander wines, as well as hit some drives off an elevated tee towards a dam.

Having been treated to delicious tastes of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Shiraz and port, the media then returned to the Fancourt Links to watch Goosen make his way around the course in three-under-par 70, one of the best rounds on a blustery, rainy day.

We were most impressed by the rich complexities and elegant finish of his wines – thanks to the unique climate of the Upper Langkloof, the grapes ripen much later than elsewhere in the Cape and the annual average temperature is only 17 degrees – but Goosen himself was extremely irritated by his finish on the golf course on Saturday.

The two-time major champion finished par-bogey-par to end the third round on nine-under, just one shot behind leaders Branden Grace and Nicolas Colsaerts.

“It was a very poor finish. The last three holes were as easy as we’ll ever see it here, they were straight downwind, so to be one-over on them feels like making three bogeys.

“The last three holes should really be played in under-par, but I failed to get up-and-down from a bunker on 16, chose the wrong club on 17 and then hit a poor second on 18,” Goosen said.

The closing holes aside, The Goose was satisfied with his position heading into the final round.

“The first six or seven holes were really tough today, but I played nice and solid. On some holes today, par was a very good score,” Goosen said.

The bottles of Goose Sauvignon Blanc, Goose Expression, Gander Shiraz and Quinto do Sul Port we sampled were also very good and the future seems bright for Goosen the winemaker if the golfing lark doesn’t pay the bills!

Retief Goosen on Friday criticised the set-up of the Fancourt Links after finishing the second round six shots off the pace in the Volvo Golf Champions.

The two-time SA Open champion – he won the last of his crowns here at Fancourt in 2005 – is unhappy at the amount of moisture on the course.

“The course is extremely soft and I’m quite surprised. I had two tee shots today that came back on the fairway and yesterday I had another that had mud on it. You’re playing a links out there and it’s playing like a parkland, so it’s quite disappointing the way they are setting it up.

“There’s no wind and the course is drenched – that’s why there’s so much low scoring out there,” Goosen said.

The 42-year-old nevertheless tackled the conditions with aplomb, getting straight down to business with birdies at the first two holes, and Goosen said a good start and consistent ball-striking had led him to his five-under-par 68 on Friday.

Goosen parred the next five holes, before claiming another pair of birdies at the eighth and ninth holes. Further birdies on the 11th and 13th holes lifted the two-time US Open champion to six-under for the round and in touch with the leaders, but the course bit back as he bogeyed the par-four 14th and 15th holes. But Goosen regained one of the strokes with a birdie on the par-five 16th.

Playing partner Lee Slattery would have an even better day as he put together a brilliant eight-under-par 65 that lifted him into a tie for second with South African Thomas Aiken.

“You have to be a bit more aggressive on this course, you just have to take on a few more shots,” Slattery said. “It was just one of them rounds I’m going to remember for the rest of my life and hopefully it can kickstart something for me. I think it’s probably the best round of my career, with it being such a big event, with so many great players and playing with Retief.”

Goosen, Slattery and English amateur Mark Vandenburghe combined brilliantly to win the Volvo World Golf Challenge.

The top 18 finishers in the World Golf Final qualified to play with the professionals on Friday and the 50-year-old Vandenberghe, Goosen and Slattery finished on a combined 18-under-par total of 128, to beat Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, England’s Simon Dyson and Austrian amateur Henning Frech by three shots.

The three-ball’s prize was a brand new Volvo for each golfer, which brightened Goosen’s mood considerably.

“How great is this? I didn’t even have to make a hole-in-one,” Goosen said.