Former golf stars help young golfers tee off to success
Participating in sports, especially the beautiful game of golf, can be an incredibly rewarding experience for young people. For their developing bodies and minds, golf is particularly good for building strength and endurance, while also teaching important skills and lessons like concentration, managing emotions, and the thrill of working towards a goal.
Nico Van Rensburg, a seasoned coach and South African golfing legend with nine world championship wins, believes that golf can be an expensive sport to play. This can make it hard for many talented young golfers in South Africa, who may not have the means to afford it, to have the opportunity to be discovered. Van Rensburg sees this as restrictive because he believes that every aspiring golfer deserves a chance to pursue their passion for golf and make their dreams come true.
In his role as the Commercial Manager for the Ernie Els Group and having coached some of the world’s best players, including the ‘Big Easy’ himself, Van Rensburg is committed to making golf more accessible to young, deserving players across the country.
To give back to the community and the sport he loves, Van Rensburg started the Vuma Golf Clinics in 2021. This initiative, in partnership with Vuma, aims to identify and support young golfers in the making who already have the talent and who wish to pursue golf professionally but may not have access to resources or afford to play on an ongoing basis.
Van Rensburg, alongside Richard Maree and Quinton Williams, offered coaching support to around 50 young players from the community. Learners from Tsoseletso Secondary School and Willem Postma Primary, who are beneficiaries of the Vuma Fibre to Schools programme, were invited to participate in the recent Vuma Golf Clinics event, which took place at the Bloemfontein Golf Club on 2 May 2024.
Kids from all backgrounds and walks of life were invited to take part in golf clinics, where they got to learn from the country’s top coaches while enjoying a fun-filled day with other young golfers, with loads of food and prizes.
Along with the clinics, the young golfers had 24/7 access to support via the Golf Coach app, thanks to robust fibre coverage from Vuma. This allowed them to upload videos of their swing and form to the platform for coaches to view and provide feedback on.
Daniel Bennet, an avid golfer that broke the record at the 2023 Nomads South Africa Boys Under-19 Stroke Play Championship and recently won first place in Boland Amateur Stroke Play in April, expressed that the clinics have helped him not only on the course but also off the course, enabling him to build relationships with others and helping him cope with the pressure.
Zinan Maimane also earned his stripes through the clinics, having recently won the Gauteng North Golf Union (GNGU) Closed A-Division by five shots. At the age of 15, the rising star is taking the game by storm and dreams of becoming an international pro in the future.
As part of an ongoing mission to empower ordinary people to be extraordinary and connect young people to endless opportunities and fibre internet, Vuma proudly sponsors Bennett and Maimane. They receive sponsorship to attend golf clinics, tournaments and pursue their careers in golf. Additionally, Maimane also attended the Els for Autism Golf Day at the Bloemfontein Golf Club on 3 May, raising funds for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families.
The Els for Autism Golf Day is a day for fun and fundraising, where golfing professionals and amateurs play a friendly game all in the name of a good cause. All funds raised on the day are donated to the Els for Autism Foundation towards much-needed therapy, education, and support to those impacted by ASD.
Businesses and individuals who would like to get more information on Els for Autism, sponsorship opportunities and details on how to donate can visit the official website at https://www.elsforautism.org/.