GCM

FEBRUARY 2009

The
Business

Volume 5 • Issue 2
Magazine
for the Golf Industry
Golf Club Management Visit www.compleatgolfer.co.za for back issues of GCM

Shelley Point
Pioneering desalination
Also in this issue
■ Evergreen Turf profile
■ Effective organisational development

■ Pricing at golf clubs

■ Dealing with our water crisis

■ Setting up for club champs

■ Course designers – Jeff Hawkes

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 EDITOR’S LETTER
CONTENTS
from
Lead Story
Shelley Point – a triumph for desalination 4

Turf management

the editor
Evergreen Turf – SA’s leading supplier of
turfgrass 6

HR Development
Effective organisational development 9

Letters
Readers’ queries answered 11 Preparing for a dry season
Rands and Sense
Pricing strategy at golf clubs 13 The theme of this month’s issue is water
– that common element many of us take
Environmental Awareness for granted. As we hear dire warnings from
Facing the water crisis 14 various quarters that we are on the verge of
a major shortage of clean (or even relatively
PGA
Preparing your course for club clean) water, one is reminded of how several
championships 17 experts warned of the impending Eskom
debacle long before the disruptive load
Manager of the Month shedding caused havoc. The management of
Johnny Stanton 20
Eskom was either blissfully unaware that we standards, and others have simply thrown
The Designers were fast running out of capacity, or it chose in the towel (citing lack of money and skills
Jeff Hawkes 21 to ignore the problems hoping that they shortages) and do not test their water at all.
would go away. Either way, they continued The prognosis is not rosy, but there is a way
The Last Word to pay themselves inflated bonuses and we for authorities to install technologies that
Women’s golf 23
were left in the dark. can keep pace – but this will take time and
No-one has calculated exactly what these money; and at best guess water will have to
Cover Picture: blackouts cost our economy, and it would double in price. In the meantime, our water-
A view of the Shelley Point course from the
seem that we are still long way from resolv- ways are literally knee-deep in manure.
clubhouse.
ing our power woes. We do know that ulti- There is no need to point out that the golf
mately the tax payer is going to have to bear industry is going to have to come up with
■ Editorial some novel ideas, and our story on desalina-
John Botha the brunt of the position we find ourselves
E-mail: bogeyfree@mweb.co.za in, and in the frantic effort to catch up with tion shows that this is a viable alternative to
Cell: 082 498 7380 demand for electricity, the customer is going conventional sourcing of water, at least for
to have to pay considerably more for power. coastal courses. Those beyond the economi-
■ AdvertisinG
Simon Turck (PUBLISHER) At least the importers of petrol and diesel cal range of pumping seawater, the majority
E-mail: simon@ramsaymedia.co.za generators have done well and, if nothing of our golf courses, are going to have to find
Cell: 083 252 8387 else, we were made painfully aware of just ways of operating with less water. Golfers
how dependant we have become on electric- are going to have to accept that lush, well-
■ Advertising
James Ferrans (National Sales Manager) ity. But the water problem is going to be far watered fairways, certainly out of the rainy
E-mail: jamesf@ramsaymedia.co.za more difficult to solve. season, could become a thing of the past.
Cell: 084 252 6373 The quality of our water has gradually It is encouraging to see that many courses
■ SUBSCRIBE to GCM been degraded to the point where our limited have invested in increasing the capacity of
Natalie Shekleton resources will soon be unusable. We have their storage dams, and others have become
E-mail: natalies@ramsaymedia.co.za lived through serious droughts, but these frugal in their use of our most precious re-
Tel: 011 301 4448
were eventually broken. When our major source. In our forthcoming issues we will be
To request your complimentary subscription to GCM, simply rivers and dams reach a certain level of focusing on important environmental issues,
SMS ‘GCM and your name’ to 35172 (SMS costs R3) or
contact Natalie Shekleton on 011 301 4448. toxicity, and we are well on our way to this but in the meantime, we’ll be drinking our
tipping point, normal rainfall is not going to Scotch neat.
Visit our website www.compleatgolfer.co.za help. The Department of Water Affairs and
Forestry, for all its fiery rhetoric and good
intentions, is losing the battle against water
theft and pollution. Municipalities, with few
exceptions, are operating over-worked sewer-
A monthly business-to-
business magazine age plants with scandalous disregard for
brought to you by rules and regulations. Many that test their
treated water find it to be way below healthy

Golf Club Management February 2009 3

Cover story
SHELLEY POINT
A triumph for innovation
Robin de Kock travelled to Shelley Point and discovered that this development on a beautiful peninsula
has become the first golf estate to successfully employ desalination for its water needs.
On 7 November 1497, Vasco da Gama took
his first step on African soil. Ironically, one
of the main reasons for landing in what he
named Bahia Da Santa Elena, known to us
now as St Helena Bay, was to gather fresh
water supplies for his four ships. Today, on
the south-western corner of the bay, stands
the Shelley Point development where the nine
hole golf course boasts the first fully-function-
al desalinisation plant in use by a golf club.
Brothers Gert and Chris Joubert had the
foresight to buy up a large tract of land back
in the early ‘90s, creating the property compa-
ny of Britannia Bay Developers. This, in turn,
produced the security estate of Shelley Point
which, with its north-facing aspect, is one of
the only three natural mainland coastline sites
in the world where one can get a view of both
a sunrise and a sunset over the sea.
The estate included the area covered by
a nine-hole course whose beginnings are a
little clouded by the mists if time – rather
like the way it can be enshrouded by early-
morning mists on a windless summer day. It
seems that one Richard Johnston, thought to
be a Scotsman taking a break from the cold,
actually designed the original layout, 90
percent of which remains today. His friend
4 February 2009 Golf Club Management
Eric Cherry oversaw the clearing of the natu-
ral vegetation and the creating of tees and
greens and it remained a pretty basic holiday
course until the residential development of
Shelley Point really began to take off.
The area only enjoys some 200mm of rain-
fall per annum and drains its municipal water
from the nearby Berg River that flows into the
sea near Velddrift at the eastern corner of the
bay. The solution to this was to investigate
the possibility of using desalinised seawater
and Grahamtek Systems from Somerset West
were brought into the picture. By then, some
three-and-a-half years ago, André Van Wyk,
now GM of the resort, had joined up with
Gert Joubert and together they have seen this
ambitious plan come together.
The plant was devised, manufactured and
installed as a 100-percent South African cre-
ated project. Grahamtek assembled the plant
inside a standard container which was then
transported to Shelley Point and delivered
to its pre-prepared site. After electrical and
water-flow connections were made, the fun
began. As André says: “We were really on our
own because no-one could tell us what to
expect as this was a first for all concerned!’’
Obviously the initial problem that would arise
was going to be with pumping water from the
sea, and sure enough it did. The sea water
itself contained far too much organic matter
for the micro-filters to handle and getting
rid of it at source was obviously neither
practical nor economical. The answer was
simply to sink boreholes along the sea edge,
creating wells from which the water could
be pumped. The sea sand between the wells
and the ocean act as a natural filter, leaving
the water sufficiently clear of the problem-
atic organic intrusion. Now the seawater can
be processed through three filters inside
the plant during which about 52 percent of
the water is purified to a standard equalled
only by very few of the commercially avail-
able bottled water varieties. The remainder,
which has absorbed the extracted salt, is fed
through to a brine dam (now a water hazard
on the 5th hole!) before being returned to
the sea.
At this stage the second obstacle arose.
The Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism strangely enough do not appear
overjoyed at the whole project and objected
to the brine being pumped back to the sea
from whence it comes as it would con-
taminate the water at the emission point.

Australia, together with Israel and the United
Arab Emirates, is a leader in the desalinising
field, and here use is made of powerful jet
sprays that disperse the brine over a wide
area. This was not really a viable answer to
the problem at Shelley Point for a variety of
reasons, and once again the Grahamtek and
Shelley Point brains trust came up with an
ingenious solution. They simply reversed the
process used to draw off the water in the first
place by pumping the brine excess directly
into the sand from where it eventually disap-
pears into the Atlantic!
The net result of all this is that Shelley
Point now has an endless supply of fresh
water. The plant is large enough to produce
660 cubic metres of desalinised water per
day, sufficient for irrigating the golf course
itself and the estate.
All in all the project took one-and-a-half
years to come into fruition and the total cost
of everything amounted to just under R3 mil-
lion. The current cost of producing the water,
including electricity, labour, servicing and
washing out of the filters every three months,
works out at R2.56 per kilolitre. This is less
than half of the current cost of the estate’s
municipal water and, should it decide to
expand its usage to cover the superb new
health spa facilities in its extremely well
designed new clubhouse and lodge, the cost
will be reduced even more. This is because
the plant itself could easily be expanded
At a total cost of R3 million, the plant can
produce 660 cubic metres of desalinated
water per day.
by the addition of extra filters which would
obviously not increase the current costs
proportionately to the increased output.
The project begs the question as to why
other courses, new or old, close to the sea
have not yet tried this route. It is perhaps
that the perception among potential users is
that it is a luxury only affordable in Dubai, or
are there other constraints that have so far
restricted clubs from investing in a process
similar to Shelley Point’s? For this estate it
has without a doubt been a success. The
Shelley Point’s Charles Swart (left) and GM Andre van Wyk
cover story
cynodon greens and kikuyu fairways are
responding very well to the daily summer
watering, and greenkeeper Albie Steenkamp,
who recently joined the club after working at
nearby Malmesbury, must be delighted with
the progress he has seen.
Together with the improved course condi-
tion and luxurious clubhouse, the estate now
offers accommodation in the Shelley Point
Lodge and Spa alongside 42 luxury suites,
and two garden villas offer quests full use of
all the resorts facilities. Being only 150km
from Cape Town, Shelley Point is close
enough to be enjoyed by weekenders wanting
something different. Beautiful beaches, tennis
courts, a gymnasium, health spa and a newly
constructed bowling green, as well as confer-
ence facilities and a panoramic view from the
restaurant and bar are all there for the asking.
Add to this a round of golf on the very well
designed course and perhaps a taste of quite
remarkable water from the plant as you pass
by and you, like Vasco, might want to spend a
week relaxing and revitalising your life.
Could desalinisation be an answer to the
persistent objections about water usage that
flood in every time a new resort is planned?
Certainly a visit to Shelley Point would
answer that question. ■
■ In next month’s issue we will be featuring
more info regarding Grahamtek Systems and
the work being done by this company.
Golf Club Management February 2009 5
TURF MANAGMENT
Not letting the
grass grow under its feet
The team at Evergreen Turf celebrated 21 successful years in business last year. GCM visited the company’s
Eikenhof offices and discovered why it is considered to be a leader in its field.
When Hantie and Fanus Cloete started Ev-
ergreen Gardens in 1987, ambitious though
they were, they could hardly have imagined
that their small company would blossom into
the major operation it has become. The sheer
scale of this operation is most impressive,
and the professional manner in which the
Evergreen team goes about their business is
obviously an important reason for their
excellent reputation.
What began as a 20-hectare kikuyu farm
has expanded to 1 000 hectares, with the
fully-automated harvesting process operating
with military precision. Vast swathes of ver-
dant turf stretches as far as the eye can see,
and the sophisticated sod-cutting machinery
operated by a well-trained team make light
of the mind-boggling task of moving acres of
sod at a time. It is no secret that the sooner
grass can be replanted the better, and no
time is wasted in harvesting the turf, which
is neatly packed on pallets in one smooth op-
eration, loaded onto trucks, and within hours
6 February 2009 Golf Club Management
the grass is replanted at its destination.
During the summer months an average of
30 000 square metres of grass is delivered
per day, and although this figure is halved
during winter, it is hugely impressive.
A large portion of the company’s crop is
comprised of kikuyu, but over the years sev-
eral other strains of turfgrass has been grown
for other specialist applications. A company
can indeed be judged by its clientele, and
Evergreen can be proud of its list of satisfied
customers.
“The golf industry makes up about a third
of our total business,” says sales and market-
ing director Lance van der Westhuizen. An-
other large proportion (about 40 percent) is
made up of work on sports fields. Evergreen
has been commissioned to supply turf and to
construct the new field for Soccer City, the
Free State stadium, and many other sporting
venues. Ellis Park is another of its success
stories – a surface that is considered to be
the best in the country.
In this fiercely competitive market profit
margins have been cut to the bone, but Lance
tells us that his company has never com-
promised on quality, and particularly in the
relatively small golf market, developers and
golf clubs should be wary of tenders that
are suspiciously cheap. Lance, a qualified
accountant (who worked for Price Waterhouse
Coopers) and who holds an MBA, makes no
secret of the fact that the spiralling cost of
fuel and fertiliser has made things difficult.
“We spent about R8 million on fertiliser last
year, and similar applications this year look
like costing us about R11 million”, he says.
“We have firmly resisted passing on these
escalating costs to our customers.”
It was when Evergreen was entrusted
with converting The Lost City’s course from
bayview grass to kikuyu that the company
proved to the golf industry that its work was
of the highest quality. This huge undertaking
was completed in time and within budget,
and since then Evergreen has established
 TURF MANAGEMENT

itself as a major player in the construction

and maintenance of golf courses.
When Roodepoort Country Club made the
brave decision to become the ‘guinea pig’
for what was then an untested method (in
South Africa) of growing bent greens off-site
and transporting them to the course, there
was no doubt in the minds of the Evergreen
team that this radical approach would be
successful. More than a few clubs watched
this operation with interest, and Dainfern has
now decided to follow Roodepoort’s example.
The advantages of replacing greens using
this method are obvious: the new greens
have well developed root systems and perfect
surfaces, and the downtime resulting from
replanting the putting surfaces while playing
on temporary greens is greatly reduced. It
will not be surprising to see many other clubs
adopting this method.
Another testimony to the high quality of Evergreen Turf’s sales and marketing director Lance van der Westhuizen with some of his
work done by this company is seen at the company’s sophisticated machinery that automatically cuts sods and stacks them on pallets.
Parys course which was redesigned by Cobie
Legrange. Evergreen supplied the turf, built
the new course and is also responsible for
the maintenance of the revamped layout.
Any visitor to this course will attest to the
high standards that have been achieved, and
the overall conditioning is as good as can be
found anywhere.
For all Evergreen Turf’s expansion over
the past two decades, the company remains
committed to service excellence, and all
its customers, from major developers to the
small homeowner, are guaranteed the finest
product at the best possible price which is
covered by a warranty. Constant research
and development conducted by Evergreen No time is wasted in delivering the freshly-cut turf – as much as 30 000 square metres are
ensures that it remains, dare we say, at delivered in a day.
the cutting edge of turf production in
South Africa. ■

Evergreen Turf’s
customers include:
The Lost City
Silver Lakes
Bryanston
Country Club Johannesburg
Pecanwood
Hans Merensky
Leopard Creek
Randpark
Parys
Roodepoort Vast areas of Evergreen Turf’s grass farms are planted with various strains of bent – this is har-
Dainfern vested in rolls of eight metres long and two metres wide.

Golf Club Management February 2009 7


A four-step process to effective
organisational development
Introducing change in an organisation is never easy. Andrew Wilson of GCM identifies four areas to focus on
which should dramatically improve your chances of success.
Very often, managers are appointed to a club
because their predecessor was not perform-
ing and has been removed from office. They
arrive full of ideas and energy only to find
that they are faced with traditions and chal-
lenges that seem insurmountable. Unless
you have a cast-iron organisational develop-
ment strategy, you are very likely to soon get
sucked in to the very traditions and methods
you are trying to change. Here are four key
focus areas to concentrate on when
embarking on a turn-around strategy.
Set realistic goals
For goals to become real there has to be real
commitment to them. The elements that you
must ensure are in place in order to secure
commitment are:
1. That you as the boss are fully committed
to the new goals and are willing to put your
reputation on the line in pursuing the goals.
2. That the goals are fully discussed, under-
stood, agreed and accepted by all in the
team. It is no good if some members of the
team understand the goals but don’t really
accept that they are relevant or appropri-
ate. Whatever it takes, you need to secure
understanding, agreement and acceptance.
3. Once you have achieved point 2 above,
you need to ensure that all the conditions
of the goals are understood. These condi-
tions will include things such as resourc-
es, standards, assistance, time-frames,
risks and rewards.
In order to achieve the above three ele-
ments you will have to commit time and
energy to the process. You are likely to be
faced with confrontation and maybe even
heated discussion. This is much more prefer-
able than being surrounded by yes-men and
wishful thinking.
HUMAN RESOUrCE DEVELOPMENT
Gain understanding
For any organisational development process
to work, all parties need to fully understand
not only what the team is trying to achieve,
but also how this will impact on their lives
and careers. This will include developing a
mature understanding of people’s personal
needs and how those needs will influence
their behaviours. This type of knowledge
doesn’t come easily. For people to open
up about their feelings, wishes and honest
opinions, there needs to be high levels of
trust and respect. Once again, this takes
time and effort, but without a high level of
openness you are not going to get the team’s
commitment to change. If you are able
to achieve the required level of trust and
respect within the team you will find that
automatically relationships within the team
improve dramatically, and consequently
results also improve.
Identify and work
with the positive and
negative forces
A modern technique often used in or-
ganisational development programmes is
a Force Field Analysis. Kurt Lewin, who
developed this process believed that Force
Field Analysis is one of the most influential
developments in the field of social science.
It provides a framework for looking at the
factors (forces) that influence a situation.
It looks at forces that are either driving
movement toward a goal (helping forces) or
blocking movement towards a goal (hinder-
ing forces). It is essential for the success of
an organisational development programme
to identify those forces helping and those
forces hindering you. Once you have
identified them, Lewin offers two options:
1. You can either build up pressure against
the resistance, or
2. You can reduce the resistance.
The problem with point one is that every
force tends to have an equal and opposite
force. The more you build up pressure, the
more you face resistance. Change may still
occur, but the cost is likely to be having to
spend a disproportionate amount of time and
energy on overcoming the resistance, as well
as a residue of ill will.
Building up pressure on someone to
change usually results in intensified conflict.
Reducing the resistance to change is normally
far more effective and this can be achieved
through increasing knowledge, understanding
and information within the team.
Build bridges
It is impossible to create change in one part
of a club without it affecting other parts
of the club. You will find that certain team
members buy in to the change process more
readily than others. The more you can build
bridges between team members the better.
If either an individual or a team is unjustly
resisting change, it is like having the enemy
within your ranks. The old adage of ‘know
thine enemy’ is apt. The more you can get
people to work with each other and to share
experiences, fears, successes and chal-
lenges, the better chance you will have of
achieving your change goals. ■
■ If you have a human resource issue you
need help with contact Andrew Wilson at
consultaew@iafrica.com or on 082 575 3861.
SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARDS
All nominations for GCM’s Service Excel-
lence Awards must be submitted by the
end of March 2009. Any staff member
of a golf club can be nominated by the
club’s manager, golf director or club
captain. All nominations must be sent to:
The Editor, bogeyfree@mweb.co.za.
Golf Club Management February 2009 9

Readers’ questions answered
Crystal from North West
I have an employee who regularly asks to
leave half-an-hour early and says that she is
willing to put in the extra half-an-hour during
her one-hour lunch break. Is it wise to allow
this to happen occasionally or should we
stick to the agreed working hours?
GCM
Firstly Crystal, under the Basic Conditions
of Employment Act, you are required to
give employees who work at least five hours
a day, a one-hour lunch break. The Act
doesn’t state when this lunch break should
be taken. If your contract of employment
states that the lunch break should be taken
between 1:00 and 2:00pm, then you can, on
occasions, come to an arrangement with an
employee to change this agreement.
It seems the employee would like to
change her working hours so that she can
leave half-an-hour earlier than the current
contract allows. If this doesn’t suit you opera-
tionally, then I believe that it is dangerous to
allow occasional permission to become regular
as it will soon become ‘custom and practice’.
It is dangerous to allow one of your team
to regularly change their working hours to suit
themselves, as it sets a precedent for others.
You could soon find yourself having to make
concessions to others that don’t suit you.
You are quite within your rights to demand
that employees honour the working hours in
their terms and conditions of employment.
If an employee is unable to regularly and
reliably honour their working hours commit-
ments, then you are dealing with a capacity
issue. You will need to counsel the person
appropriately and, in a worst-case situation,
you will have to relocate them to a more
suitable position that accommodates their
needs. If this is not possible, you will have to
terminate their services.
■ For more information on HR or industrial
relations issues contact Andrew Wilson on
082 575 3861 or at consultaew@iafrica.com
HR LETTER
LABOUR PAINS
What are the top five priorities an em-
ployer should focus on in order to comply
with the Department of Labour’s basic
guide to affirmative action?
1. Find and remove things that badly
affect designated* groups.
2. Support diversity through equal
dignity and respect to all people.
3. Make changes to ensure designated
groups have equal chances.
4. Ensure equal representation of des-
ignated groups in all job categories
and levels in the workplace.
5. Retain and develop designated
groups.
*A designated person or group, in the
terms of the Employment Equity Act, is
classified as black people, women and
people with disabilities.
■ For more information on affirmative
action go to the Department of Labour
website www.labour.gov.za

Product pricing –
thumb suck or exact science?
How much attention is paid to pricing of products at golf clubs? Does it receive the level of research and
investigation it deserves? Is pricing part of the marketing strategy and is it approved by the highest level of
management? Is pricing linked to the service level offered? These and many more questions should be carefully
considered by club decision makers when reviewing the price levels at their clubs, writes Ian Leach.
It is possible that pricing, a critically impor-
tant component of the profitability equation,
could be overlooked at many clubs.
Right now golf clubs have entered into
a difficult period with the present state of
national and international economies. Volume
of business is declining across the board and
now more than ever pricing should be con-
sidered as a strategy to survival. Historically,
member-owned golf clubs have not consid-
ered ‘profit’ to be a key part of their long-term
operation. Fortunately this has changed and
most now appreciate the need to make a
profit or surplus in good times to fund future
capital replacements, improvements and even
to supplement income during lean times like
now. The timing is perfect therefore for clubs
to review their pricing strategy.
There are only three variables in the profit
equation in any business – they are volume,
price and expense. The equation is:
PROFIT = VOLUME x PRICE – EXPENSE
Clearly volume of business and expense
control are essential components of the
equation. Volume of business attracted by a
club is very often dependant on pricing and
cannot be reviewed in isolation. Cost control
and cost avoidance is also an essential
component that needs to be given priority at-
tention. Indirectly ‘service offered’ must also
enter the equation, as theoretically custom-
ers might be willing to pay more for goods if
the service level experience is outstanding.
With this in mind the profit equation could
be expanded to:
PROFIT = VOLUME x PRICE + SERVICE
LEVEL – EXPENSE
This is an important extension when
considering the 5-Star Golf Experience. One
of the criteria considered by the evaluating
team is price/value relationship, which can
be difficult to define and will be addressed in
more detail later.
How do clubs price their products? The
statistical answer to this question is un-
known, but could be any or a combination of
the following:
■ Based on historical practices
■ To avoid member complaints
■ To balance the budget
■ By benchmarking with other clubs
■ To offer best price/value relationship
■ Through integration with the
marketing strategy
■ By integrating into the business plan
Ideally, every private club should have a
defined pricing strategy based on its own
unique business needs. This is most likely
already the case with commercially-driven
estates. This pricing strategy need not be too
sophisticated, but should at least address
whether the business is:
■ focused on high volume with low prices
■ focused on low volume with high prices
■ focused on high volume with high prices
and exceptional service
There is place in the market with examples
of each of the above. In a perfect world
every business should attempt to sell its
product ‘at the highest price that the major-
ity of customers are willing to pay before
turning to a competitor’. Simply put, this
means offering value for money in every
product that a club sells. This also takes
into account the competitive environment,
whether this is a neighbouring club or a pub
down the road. The Club Managers Associa-
tion conducts bench-marketing price studies
on a range of golf club products for the
benefit of its members.
A good pricing strategy should also take
the ‘business driver’ into account and to
price this effectively to ensure that custom-
ers are attracted to the club in the first
place. At most golf clubs the business driver
is rounds of golf. With correct pricing on the
round of golf players will be attracted to the
club. Once there, they are going to spend
rands and sense
three to four times the greenfee charged on
other purchases. These other product prices,
which include carts, merchandise, equip-
ment, novelties and food and beverages, still
need to be priced proportionately in order to
avoid irritating the player. Ideally, the pricing
strategy should be integrated through all
product ranges offered and should also be
included in the overall marketing strategy of
the club.
Currently prices at clubs range from the
extreme low to the exorbitantly high, yet
all seem to have a place in the market. For
example, local beer prices for the exact
same product range from around R7 to R25.
Greenfees range from an average low of
R110 to almost R1 000. Golf shirts of a par-
ticular brand could easily range from R300
to R700 bearing a club logo. Customers will
not continue to pay these prices unless they
perceive value for money. Players will visit a
leading high-priced club maybe only once for
the experience and enjoy every minute of it
and then regularly visit the more affordable
venues as long as the perceived value for
money is on offer.
During this difficult economic period
clubs should all review their price positions
in the market and, if necessary, make correc-
tions to ensure that they protect their volume
of business and also their profitability. One
concluding comment is that members at
traditional golf clubs need to be made aware
that the days of cheap golf with cheap beer
are gone forever. Running a golf club is an
expensive and sophisticated business and,
unless the club prices its products effec-
tively, it will not remain in business for very
long. Good communication with members
and guests is essential. ■
■ For more information contact Ian Leach
at ianleach@euphoriaestate.co.za or on
082 892 8693
Golf Club Management February 2009 13
the environment
Facing the water crisis
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Lindiwe Hendricks has spelled it out – Gauteng could run out of water
by 2013. GCM looks at how increased demand for this precious resource is likely to impact on golf courses.
We might as well accept the fact that ir-
rigated golf courses are going to come in for
some serious stick in the near future. It is not
only in Gauteng that alarm bells are ringing,
but throughout South Africa it is becoming
increasingly obvious that water of acceptable
quality for agriculture and drinking could
simply run out.
South Africa is listed as the 30th-driest
country in the world, and at present all our
water resources have been fully allocated.
But the biggest problem now is not merely
the quantity of water available, but how this
scarce commodity is being managed. Salts,
sewage, industrial effluent, acids and toxic
algae have polluted many of our biggest
rivers and dams, and we have been warned
that unless drastic action is taken we will
find ourselves in serious trouble. Widespread
contamination is going to result in a dire
shortage of unusable water for agriculture
and domestic use and, when this happens,
how are golf clubs going to justify pumping
14 February 2009 Golf Club Management
millions of litres of water onto their courses?
The water problem has three main causes:
industrial and mining pollution, raw or poorly
treated sewage pouring into rivers and global
warming, which is raising temperatures
in dams, promoting the growth of algae.
Mismanagement of pollutants is nothing new,
but in the past the main culprits were able
to flush industrial effluent down rivers during
storms and minor floods, thus diluting the
potential disastrous effects of this practice.
But with many of our river ecosystems on
the verge of collapse, we have used up our
‘dilution capacity’. In Gauteng, Mpumalanga,
Limpopo and the Free State acid water has
been pouring into main river systems from
abandoned and operating coal and gold
mines. Large numbers of fish in major dams
have dying for some years, but it was only
when crocodiles in the Loskop Dam began
dying that authorities sat up and took notice.
One warning sign of poisoned water is the
blooming of dangerous blue-green algae
called cyanobacteria. According to the
CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research) a few years ago cyanobacteria
blooms were detected during four months of
the year. They are now present for more than
twice this period. There have been wide-
spread incidences of fatal cyanobacterial
poisoning, causing the death of livestock,
domestic animals and wildlife.
Pollution of our rivers by metals from
mines is one problem that can be solved,
as long as the will and expertise is applied,
but harmful nitrates and phosphates, which
come from insufficiently treated sewage
flows, is far more difficult and costly to re-
move. There are many reasons why raw sew-
age is not being managed properly, not least
of all the lack of capacity and expertise. The
failure of municipal authorities and develop-
ers to integrate newly built infrastructure
with existing waste-water processing plant
has caused many sewerage works to become
hopelessly overloaded, and most are forced

to operate way beyond their capacity. Water
professionals have warned of the sewage
problem for more than 10 years, but the gov-
ernment’s determination to provide modern
sanitation to as many people as possible has
overburdened the system. No-one can blame
authorities for trying to provide flush-toilets
to those who have not had these in the past,
but their failure to foresee the consequences,
after serious warnings, is unforgiveable.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa
(DBSA) recently hosted a Knowledge Week
which focused on SA’s water quality. The
lack of skills and expertise at municipal
level and water affairs was recognised as a
major problem, and it is estimated that in
order to ‘normalise’ water quality would cost
at least R25 billion a year. This is money
that simply must be spent, as besides the
quality of drinking water (our constitution
guarantees everyone clean drinking water),
the negative economic impact of poor quality
water for agriculture could cost the country
a staggering amount in loss of exports. Euro-
GAP, which sets standards for all agricultural
products imported into the European Union,
has warned South Africa that water used for
our agriculture is below standard. Decidu-
ous fruit farmers in the Western Cape were
warned last September that levels of harmful
bacteria in rivers used for irrigation were
more than double those permitted by the EU.
It was made clear that unless this situation
improved, exports from SA would be banned.
The same fate is threatening the areas below
the Loskop Dam where 700km of irrigation
canals and the favourable climate makes
this the most productive farming areas in
the country. We earn about R27 billion from
agricultural exports to the EU alone, and we
can ill-afford to ignore these warnings.
So how is this sate of affairs likely to
affect our industry? For starters, we are con-
stantly reminded that golf courses are seen
to be playgrounds for the privileged few and,
as such, present a soft target for those trying
to gain political points. In the larger scheme
of things, irrigation for courses represents a
proverbial ‘drop in the ocean’. Agriculture
uses about 70 percent of our water (one
litre of water is needed to produce just one
calorie of food) and industry uses a sizeable
chunk of the rest. When the remainder, water
for drinking and domestic use is in short sup-
ply, it is going to be very difficult to justify
pouring water onto greens and fairways.
The golf industry in South Africa has not
“Unfortunately, most clubs
with their ever-changing
committees neither have
the will nor the expertise
to make changes that
genuinely improve what
is in many cases a rather
poor state of affairs.”
yet established a ‘best practices’ code for
golf courses, but it is high time that we did.
A good starting point would be to get the
environmentalists on our side; no easy task,
but not impossible. So how do we do this? A
few clubs take their environmental responsi-
bilities seriously, and make a good case for
improving their ecosystems. Unfortunately,
most clubs with their ever-changing commit-
tees neither have the will nor the expertise
to make changes that genuinely improve
what is in many cases a rather poor state of
affairs. On many older courses, alien and in-
vasive species are still allowed to proliferate;
the most common argument for this is that
the club lacks the money to eradicate them.
One will always find an expert on a commit-
tee to maintain that such-and-such a tree
forms part of the playing strategy of a hole,
or that the blue gums were planted long ago
and now belong on the course. This is non-
sense, and the sooner clubs realise that trees
that don’t belong on their courses should be
removed, the better. An example of just how
much water alien species consume was seen
at St Francis Links. When these species were
removed from the site during the construc-
tion of the course, it was immediately appar-
ent that the water table rose and the estate
was able to in fact supply the town with its
excess water.
All too often when course ranking panel-
lists visit various golf courses, they find evi-
dence of over-watering, and one can hardly
blame the course staff, because golfers have
become obsessed with having spongy, lush
fairways throughout the year. Modern course
designers have also seemed to embrace the
theory of bigger being better, and acres of
playing areas (most of which are hardly used)
are being lovingly tended. Multi-tees are very
the environment
much the order of the day, but these come at
a cost. No only do these swathes of lush turf
require huge amounts of fuel to maintain,
they quaff down water which soon just won’t
be available.
The long-term effects of pumping sub-
standard ‘grey’ water onto courses has yet to
seem, but the high salt content is obviously
building up in the sub-strata of soil, which
will ultimately have a adverse affect on the
turf. Simply adding more fertiliser (and more
water) is certainly not the answer. Most clubs
that receive grey water from municipalities
obtain it for free, so they feel that they are
not in the position to make demands regard-
ing the quality of the water. Some that have
tried to point out glaring problems have been
ignored. We have to accept that the condi-
tion of a golf course is not, nor should it be,
high on the list of a local council’s priorities.
One solution is for clubs to purify this water
themselves – an expensive exercise, but at
least creating a wetland system to ‘strain’
impurities from the water before it reaches
the irrigation system would help.
It has been encouraging to see certain
courses taking action and building more stor-
age dams to trap storm water, but a lot more
has to done.
At the risk of being shot down in flames,
there have been those who have queried
the wisdom of planting expensive, thirsty,
heat-sensitive species of grass on our greens.
Sure, these offer a superb putting surface all
year round, but perhaps we should now begin
to take a realistic look at this practice.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that water
reticulation systems were unheard of. During
the rainy season courses turned green and
during the dry season they turned brown.
Generations of golfers learned to live with
firm, dry fairways and greens and could
adapt their games to suit the conditions.
We do not need reminding that South Africa
produced many champions who learned to
play the game on these courses and, in fact
putting on grainy greens was an advantage,
as was the ability to hit shots off less-than-
perfect lies. The great Bobby Locke often
said that his stellar performances in British
Opens were largely due to his practice of
playing the ‘old’ Transvaal courses in winter.
As we face a very uncertain future, we can
be sure that we are going to have to change
our modus operandi, and eco-friendly clubs
that become water-wise now will be ahead of
the game. ■
Golf Club Management February 2009 15
 Monthly
Membership Payment
for Golf Clubs
Orbit Golf together with Nedbank Corporate have set up a
Membership Payment facility to allow Golf Club Members the
option of paying their annual membership fees over 12 months.

The benefits of this are:

❖ Better cash flow for the club
❖ Simplified collection of membership fees
❖ Help improve your members cash flow
❖ Attraction of new golfers who are not currently members
❖ Retention of more members
❖ Reduction in the administration & debt collection costs
❖ Financed amounts can include:
■ Initial club joining fees
■ Golf Estate levies
■ Green Fees - should the golf club decide to sell them on an
annual basis

Should you not wish to use the Nedbank financed

facility, Orbit Golf can still collect and administer
your monthly membership fees.

For more information:

Log onto www.OrbitGolf.co.za
or contact Graham McComb on
071 600 8800
or e-mail Graham@OrbitGolf.co.za
 PGA

Challenging but enjoyable

PGA of South Africa chief executive Dennis Bruyns explains why stretching courses to their tips is the last thing
you should consider when setting up a course for tournament conditions.

The recent Nedbank Golf Challenge was

interesting from a course set-up point of
view as we changed things slightly from the
traditional set-ups of past tournaments. In
the past, we have had traditional final-day
‘championship’ pin positions, which pre-
sented the course at its toughest. This year,
we used all the traditional pin positions,
however, we spread the tough final-day posi-
tions across all four days, bringing a far more
balanced set-up to the tournament.
What this meant was that somebody could
make a real last-round charge and that is ex-
actly what we saw in Kenny Perry’s last-round
charge on second place. Of course, setting a
course up for 12 of the world’s best players
is a relatively easy task as they are all at very
much the same skill level and can all bomb
the ball 280 metres off the tee. As Henrik Just because the club champs are premier events doesn’t mean that the course should be
Stenson proved, hitting his 3-wood all week, stretched to the tips or that the pins should be tucked away in fiendish spots.
length is certainly not a factor for these guys,
so stretching the course really does not make
it any more of a challenge. Speaking of pin positions, get a balance don’t try to make this unfairly tough. Again,
Many clubs will be gearing themselves up between left and right pin positions, as well leave that to the sadists who prepare
for their annual club championships in the as front and back. You never want to favour US Open courses.
next couple of months and this has got me someone who consistently hits a draw or a If anything, greens should be a little firm-
thinking about how best to set up a course fade, and you may want players to be able er and a little quicker for your club champi-
for club tournament conditions. I am a great to roll the ball up to a back pin position or onships – and there is good reason for this.
believer that setting up a course to be tough try to pepper a front pin with a short-iron It will reward the player who is approaching
does not make for a good challenge – it approach. The person setting up the course the green from the fairway because he will
simply makes it tough. Just because it is should always take into account the club be getting more spin on the ball and will be
the club’s premier tournament for the year that the majority of the field might be using able to get closer to the flags. Those who
should not mean that it should be stretched to approach the green and should give golf- approach from the rough or the wrong side of
to the tips and all the pins tucked away in ers a fair chance of getting it close to the the fairway should find it more challenging
fiendish spots on the greens. flag using that club. So it follows that the to get the ball close to the hole. Also, with a
The emphasis should be on balance and pin position on a hole where the majority of little more speed on the greens, it makes the
variation, where every type of shot and every the field is using a longish-iron should not be golfer think a little more and encourages him
club in the bag can be tested during the positioned just over a bunker or water hazard to look to play below the hole.
round. That way, the best golfer should win, on the edge of the green – that does not Setting up a course to be challenging yet
not the guy who can survive with the least present a fair challenge. fair (and therefore enjoyable) is a skill that
amount of damage and mental scarring. General course preparation for club cham- needs to be learnt and the PGA is running
There should be balance and variation in pionships is also important. Clubs put in workshops to up-skill those people responsi-
the par threes: stretch one as far as possible plenty of effort each year to ensure that the ble for setting up courses at their home clubs
so that a long-iron, hybrid or even a 5-wood course is at its best, but I would add the fol- – and this could be the club’s PGA profes-
is required, but also have one that only lowing preparation advice: never try to trick sional, or perhaps even the greenkeeper.
requires a 9-iron or wedge (in this instance up the course by narrowing fairways – leave Contact the PGA for more details or, if need
the pin can be tucked away in a tougher part that to the US Open. And, while thickness be, we can always send someone to your club
of the green). of rough is often dependent on the weather, to assist with set-up ‘education’. ■

Golf Club Management February 2009 17

 REALISE your EXPECTATIONS
with my VISION & DESIGN.
Parys Golf Estate Picture by Jamie Thom

MY TEAM HAS OVER

TWO DECADES OF EXPERIENCE
IN GOLF COURSE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION!
Cobie Legrange has won 23 international tournaments,
including the Australian Masters and two British Masters
titles. Once ranked 15th in the world, he now applies a
lifetime of knowledge and experience to: • Design of golf
courses & golf estates to international construction specifi-
cations • Redesign, reconstruction, and consultancy across PO Box 4531 Dainfern Valley 2055
Johannesburg, South Africa
the board, including par-three golf courses, driving ranges,
golf studios and academies, golf estate residential layouts Tel/Fax +27 11 469-3345
e-mail: COBIELEG@telkomsa.net
and feasibility studies • Liaising with top international golf
Direct personal service line
stars for signature designs. +27 83 375 2098

CMASA announces Africa’s first CCM
Beryl Acres, general manager of the Club Management Association of South Africa (CMASA) has become the
first person in Africa to receive her Certification in Club Management through the Club Managers Association of
America (CMAA).
The CCM designation is awarded to club
managers who have completed many years
of educational programmes approved by the
CMAA, practical club working experience
and, finally, a tough seven-hour certification
exam. Beryl is the first person in Africa to
have qualified to write, and who subsequent-
ly passed, the certification exam.
The Certified Club Manager (CCM)
designation has been the hallmark of
professionalism in club management in
America since 1965, and is the corner-
stone of the CMAA’s member recognition
programme. It is a valuable and widely
respected mark of a manager’s knowledge
and commitment to professional develop-
ment and the club industry.
As part of the development of South
Africa’s club management education
programmes, Beryl attended a week-long Cer-
tification Review course in Atlanta, followed
by the written the exam. Through Beryl’s
initiatives, future club managers from South
Africa will have the benefit of being able to
write the exam in South Africa.
The CMASA has been running CMAA-
developed BMI programmes with the support
of the CMAA’s academic advisor, Joe Perdue,
and the CMAA’s senior vice-president of edu-
cation, Dr Jason Koenigsfeld, for the past two
years and are now at a point where about 12
candidates are approaching the stage where
they can write their certification exams.
The foundations or core competencies
tested in this certification exam include:
private club management, food and beverage
CMASA
operations, accounting and financial manage-
ment, human and professional resources,
management, marketing, golf/sports manage-
ment, building and facilities management
and external and governmental influences.
Joe Perdue’s letter to the CMASA includes
the following: “Beryl is to be commended
for reaching the hallmark of professionalism
in club management. Congratulations from
the education department of the CMAA and
on behalf of the Certification Committee, we
wish Beryl continued success as a Certified
Club Manager…”
Bill Taylor, chairman of the CMASA, had
this to say: “The CMASA is excited about
Beryl’s achievement and we hope it sets an
example to SA club managers aspiring to
greater recognition and achievement.” ■
manager of the month
Vaal de Gráce’s Johnny Stanton
In at the deep end
Although lacking the experience of managing a golf club, Johnny Stanton has proved that he is up to the task.
His enthusiasm and his network of friends in the industry has helped him scale a steep learning curve, and
Vaal de Gráce is poised to join the golf estate premier league.
Johnny Stanton didn’t need convincing when
he was offered the opportunity of running
the newly launched Vaal de Gráce estate.
“To be associated with Nick Price is a huge
honour, and I consider myself lucky to have
been involved with this project from its
beginning,” he says. “The developer, Dr Chris
Dreyer, has also been a pleasure to work for,
and with his assistance I am confident that
we will become one of the premier estates in
the country.”
Johnny’s involvement in golf manage-
ment came about via his friendship with Sun
International’s Alastair Roper, well known as
the man who puts together the Nedbank Golf
Challenge in Sun City.
“It was about 14 years ago that Alastair
and I were having lunch and I suggested that
there couldn’t be that much work involved
with organising the ‘Million Dollar’ – of
course then I had no idea just what went on
behind the scenes. Alastair suggested that I
volunteer my services during the tournament,
which I did. I soon found out that there was a
lot more to putting on what is South Africa’s
biggest sporting event.” Johnny, who was in
the earthmoving business with his brother for
some 19 years, offered his services at Sun
City every year after that. “The experienced I
gained from working at the event for 13 years
was invaluable – I was involved with many
aspects from organising signage to shuttling
players around the complex. I considered my
time at Sun City during the tournament a sort
of annual holiday – but it was hard work.”
It is clear that Johnny has put a lot of
hard work into Vaal de Gráce, and he is
determined to run the operation here to the
highest possible standards. “I found myself
having to organise a vast range of things –
from security to printing scorecards – and I
had to call on various friends of mine in the
golf industry for advice,” he says. Although
he cannot claim to have been at the helm of
20 February 2009 Golf Club Management
a golf club before, he has organised various
golf events in the past and has clear under-
standing of what is required. He certainly has
his hands full as his position as operations
director includes the management of the
estate as well. There is a flurry of construc-
tion on the estate and it is clear that this
development has received the ‘thumbs up’
from investors who are building up-market
homes. The estate’s proximity to Johannes-
burg, the magnificent views of the Vaal River
and surrounding countryside and, of course,
the Nick Price signature course have been a
big lure to well-heeled investors.
Johnny formed a management company
which is contracted by the developer to run
the operation at the estate. The course,
which was built and is maintained by Top
Turf, promises to mature into a very fine
layout, and one of Johnny’s prime objectives
is to promote the course. “It is satisfying to
see that golfers from Johannesburg and Pre-
toria that visit us come back for more – so
Johnny Stanton pictured on the deck of
the temporary clubhouse, which affords
magnificent views of the Vaal River.
hopefully we are doing things right,” he says.
Operating from a temporary clubhouse
may considered be a drawback, but this
term ‘temporary’ hardly does it justice. It
may be smaller than most clubhouses, but it
is a beautifully constructed building which
has ample space and a deck which affords
magnificent views of the Vaal River. The
upper level houses locker-rooms and it has
the feel of a boutique lodge. The décor is an
interesting blend of modern and traditional
touches and it is clear that no expense has
been spared in creating a comfortable,
opulent atmosphere.
The catering at the club has been
outsourced, and a staff of 15 including
admin, PR, and waiters/bar staff service the
clubhouse. An additional four people are em-
ployed as starters and course marshals, who
also look after the fleet of 50 golf carts.
“When we started there were no systems
in place, but starting from scratch has its
advantages. There is no question that I have
enjoyed a lot of job satisfaction – and when
visitors compliment us after their experience
here this makes all the hard work worth-
while,” says Johnny.
Johnny Stanton might have embarked
on a career as a professional soccer player,
because he was a talented player who played
with the likes of Neil Tovey and Shane
McGregor. “I decided to remain in the
amateur ranks, but fell in love with golf after
completing my national service,” he says. He
has since become an accomplished golfer
who plays off a single-figure handicap. But
like most club managers, he has discovered
that his job provides precious little time for
playing golf. ■
■ J ohnny Stanton can be contacted on
056 811 2013 or e-mail
jstanton@vaaldegrace.co.za

The Hawkes touch at Eshowe
Jeff Hawkes has returned to South Africa and he is determined to make his mark as a course architect. His first
project at Eshowe Hills is well underway – breathing new life into an old classic.
At the University of Houston, where he
played two tournaments in his freshman year
and won them both, Jeff Hawkes was touted
as the next Jack Nicklaus. Hawkes enjoyed a
stellar amateur career, and when he turned
pro in 1974 the blond hair and Hollywood
dress sense certainly made him a player that
crowds remembered. His career may not have
matched that of Nicklaus, but he won several
times, most notably holding off a charging
Seve Ballesteros to take the 1991 European
Masters title.
Now aged 54, he is recovering from
shoulder surgery back home in South Africa,
and Hawkes is embarking on another career
in which the ultimate accolade might be
to be ‘the next Nicklaus’ – in golf course
architecture.
Hawkes has long been a keen student of
course design, and he has been given the
opportunity of putting his theory into practice
on a Bob Grimsdell-designed course in the
heart of Zululand. Many of the courses that
Grimsdell designed (including the exclu-
sive River Club in Johannesburg and Royal
Johannesburg and Kensington’s East course)
are highly regarded layouts and Eshowe Hills
Golf and Eco Estate is aiming for a place
among the elite.
“Five years ago this course was der-
elict,” says recently appointed director
of golf Richard Lyon, “and the work done
by developer Dave Davenport in getting
it playable again has been amazing. It is
such a wonderful layout that I found myself
dreaming about just how good it could be if
it was sensitively modernised, and eventu-
ally I persuaded Dave to find the budget for
a makeover. At that stage I started looking
around for the right person and one of the
people we interviewed for the project was
Jeff. His artistic vision and insistence on
maintaining the feel of the original course
were the two points that clinched the
decision in his favour,” says Lyons.
Hawkes began breaking earth on the first
nine holes on 1 November 2008 with a tar-
get date of Christmas for completion of the
actual work, with the nine due to open for
Golf director of Eshowe Hills Richard Lyon
(left), discusses the plans for the new-look
layout with Jeff Hawkes.
play in April 2009. The second nine, which
involves a little more earthmoving, will begin
in September with the launch of the complete
new course scheduled for March 2010.
“It is a huge honour for me to be given a
Grimsdell design to update,” says Hawkes.
Work on the first nine involved three major
areas – moving, levelling and increasing the
teeing areas, moving and re-designing some
bunkers and modernising the greens com-
plexes. No greens will be moved, although
this will happen with two greens on the
second nine. Doing the re-vamp one nine
Jeff and his team of workers, hard at work
making changes to the front nine. Work on
the back nine will begin later this year.
THE DESIGNERS
at a time suited everyone,” says Hawkes.
“It meant that the members would still
have nine holes open for play throughout,
and it allowed me to plan the work to fit in
best with the growing seasons. Having said
that, the micro-climate here in Eshowe is
so growth-oriented that greens we scarified
on a Tuesday were back to normal by the
following Saturday.”
Because the whole course is laid out on
what was originally part of the Dlinza Forest
(48ha of the estate is still virgin forest) the
topsoil is not only rich and fertile, but also
more than a metre deep, which has made the
earthworks a pleasure for Hawkes.
“We have done the entire job with a TLB,
a little Bobcat, one tip truck and about
15 labourers, many of them women. Their
English is not too good and my Zulu is
non-existent so communication has been a
challenge, but we seem to have managed,”
adds Hawkes.
So how would Hawkes like the playing
public to view his work once he has finished?
“My design philosophy has always been
that the hallmark of genius is to create a
course that immediately looks as though it’s
been there for years. I guess, I would like
people to come here and say, ‘This is a great
course’ rather than, ‘Look how different it is.’
“I am trying to create the course that I
imagine Bob Grimsdell would have designed
if he had had access to modern machinery:
the last thing I want to do is lose the feel
of the original layout. Any decent designer,
given modern machinery and a huge budget,
can paint whatever picture you want. I’m not
trying to paint a picture; I’m trying to restore
an old master, because the raw material I
have to work with here is outstanding. The
course winds its way through magnificent
terrain, much of it indigenous forest, and yet
from several places on the course you can
see the Indian Ocean, 20km away and 500m
below you. There is a feeling here that’s hard
to describe: it’s tranquil and yet at the same
time energising. I can’t wait to get to work
each day, and I have simply fallen in love
with the place. I’ve bought a stand here and,
Golf Club Management February 2009 21
THE DESIGNERS

Jeff Hawkes has swopped his familiar

Hawkes’ artistic vision for the makeover includes sensitively modernising tailored golf slacks and two-tone spikes for
the layout while maintaining the feel of the original course. a more practical outfit.

although I have a property in Johannesburg,
I can see myself spending a lot of time here.
So, in a way I have an odd sort of pride of
ownership in the golf course, which has made
me doubly determined to produce something
outstanding. I don’t want to get ahead of
myself, but when we have finished I think you
will be hard-pressed to find four better short
holes on any course in South Africa.”
But what about the modern trend for de-
signers to stretch courses in an attempt to be
considered serious ‘championship’ tests?
“Just stretching a course to 7 500 metres
of the back tees doesn’t make it a champion-
ship course and, while I am always looking
for ways to challenge the scratch player
– how could I not after 34 years as a tour
player? – it is vital in today’s climate that
a course caters for everyone, from the pro
to the rank beginner. When I have finished,
Eshowe Hills will be a course that beginners
will enjoy and average players will find fun to
play, while at the same time it will be able to
challenge the best players to think their way
round: if you beat your handicap here when
it’s set up for tournament play, you will be
very pleased with yourself.” ■

ADVERT

Where to for Women’s
Golf in South Africa?
Publisher and editor of SA Woman Golfer magazine Shelley Galliver shares her recipe for the success of the
women’s game in South Africa.
When you are given the freedom to voice your
opinion on a subject which is close to you,
you are often perplexed by where to start. Do
you start with the positives and then bring
up concerns, this way seemingly hiding the
negativity?
After much consideration, and being
about a women’s sport, I thought I would use
the example of a baking a chocolate cake
to describe what I believe to be the current
state of women’s golf in South Africa.
In order to bake a cake we need all the es-
sential ingredients. The Women’s World Cup
of Golf could be likened to one of the most
important ingredients – it put the game on
the map for women in this country. It created
excitement about the sport, awareness about
players and, for the first time ever, we saw
more women’s golf spectators in SA. It added
mass support to the game, and let’s for this
example call it ‘flour’.
Then we had players like Ashleigh Simon
and Laurette Maritz, and more recently Lee-
Anne Pace and Stacy Bregman, who have
been competing internationally and flying
SA’s flag high. These girls maintain interest
in the game for the duration of the year, and
if they will excuse the comparison, we will
call them the ‘eggs’.
It wouldn’t be a chocolate cake without
the cocoa, and this was my dilemma. Eventu-
ally I decided that the ‘cocoa’ is the admin-
istrators of the game. These individuals are
a mixed bunch – some do it for the love of
the game and others do it as a business. You
have to admire those who contribute their
time freely, mostly in the amateur section,
but likewise need to agree that business is
business. The reason I chose to make them
cocoa, is that if you taste cocoa on its own,
it really isn’t nice, but put it in a cake, and
‘whala!’ The game cannot exist successfully
without these people, and for that we thank
Shelley warns that sponsors of develop-
ment shouldn’t expect a quick return on
their investments, and there are no guaran-
tees of finding another Ashley Simon.
them. But sometimes, I think it is important
for them to remember that as a singular in-
gredient they are not that desirable, so they
should nurture the position they are in and
nurture the sport. Then we have the most
important ingredient of all, the sponsors – or,
for the sake of this experiment, the ‘baking
powder’. All the above ingredients can be
combined, but without baking powder, you
will have a flop.
So hopefully some people are still with
me, as even I am beginning to wonder where
I am going with this and if there was an
easier way to explain my position.
Let’s recap – we have decided to bake
a chocolate cake – we are on the journey.
We have all the necessary ingredients for
now, but it is still touch and go. Am I saying
that without the World Cup, women’s golf is
doomed? No, not at all, but I am saying that
we will then need something else to fill the
gap it would leave behind. I am saying that
we need to encourage and develop new tal-
ent in order to continue to feature interna-
tionally. We have seen a number of pro-
Last word
grammes spring to life recently, like Project
2014 and the Girls Love Golf programme.
Fantastic, but let’s make sure that the output
is in line with the input or sooner or later we
may be out of baking powder. The growth has
been so fast, that one has to wonder if we
have not already spread our baking powder
too thinly and where will we continue to
find baking powder going forward. If we are
able to churn out big fluffy chocolate cakes
that taste good, there will always be more
ingredients available to be used. But when
people see the cake flopping, the ingredients
will not be as forthcoming.
Women’s golf in South Africa is in the
oven at the moment– the last World Cup due
to be played in the latter part of this year,
the sponsors needing to contribute more
money due to the exchange rate impact.
Development programmes are on the rise and
are using up some of this scarce sponsor-
ship resource. It is an area which will never
show an early return on investment, and in
fact is never a surefire investment. We can
only scour the country for talent and give
them the necessary training, but we cannot
guarantee the sponsors of finding another
Ashleigh Simon. I only hope that they don’t
become despondent on the road to 2014 and
move their money to another cause. I also
feel that the administrators, business people,
in fact anyone with a concern of sorts in
women’s golf in South Africa, need to start
working together to make the game a success
as a whole and stop pulling in opposite direc-
tions or competing against one another.
The market has grown, but not enough to
sustain fractions of the whole. It would be a
shame to see it flop after all the hard work of
attaining all the ingredients, blending them
together and getting the cake into the oven.
It will be an interesting start to 2009, to see
the cake’s rise or fall. ■
Golf Club Management February 2009 23