Helping give girls a love for golf at Ebotse Links

The second Girls Love Golf development golf clinic returned to Ebotse Links on July 15.

Lynda Smit, Ebotse’s women’s club captain, said: “The aim of the programme is to help development girl golfers with their game, to recognise talent and potentially take them further in the sport.

“Funding for the project comes from Ekurhuleni Women’s Golf (EWG) and sponsors.”

Twelve female golfers from Daveyton and Tembisa attended on the day and were taken through their paces with chipping and hitting drills by professional golfer and coach Grant Veenstra, as well as Ladies European Tour (LET) player Nicole Garcia and Sunshine Tour professional Drikus van der Walt, at the Ebotse Links Driving Range.

Veenstra said he would like to see the Girls love Golf clinic becoming a monthly occurrence.

The City Times caught up with Garcia who has been hard at work in preparation for the Ladies Scottish Open which tees-off on July 26 at the Gullane Golf Club in Scotland, the same course where South Africa’s Brandon Stone won the men’s tournament on Sunday.

“It’s the same course that the men have been playing and it looks a little bit dry and difficult.

“I’m excited to get started there.

“I need to get a good finish there to qualify straight for the British Open otherwise I need to do another qualifier.

“I like qualifiers because I seem to do well in them, so I think I’ll be okay for that one.

“It’ll be nice if I can get into the Women’s British Open because it will be played at Royal Lytham and St Annes which I have never played at before.

“Grant played his first British Open there, so it will be great if I can get into that one.

“I have been training hard at Ebotse.

“It’s a good setting here at Ebotse to be able to practise for the Scottish Open.

“It is a links golf course, it’s windy and it’s cold so these are the best conditions I can get to practise in at the moment.”

Garcia added that she would like to finish in the Top 20 on the LET Order of Merit on the European circuit this year.

“Unfortunately I am going to miss a few events because I’m going to Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Qualifying School.

“It’s bittersweet because I’m going to miss some European events, but hopefully I will be qualifying to play on the LPGA circuit.”

Regarding the Girls Love Golf clinic Garcia said: “Grant and Lynda have been working hard to keep this clinic here at Ebotse because they are really proud of it and I am proud to be part of it too.

“If I am at home I love being involved in these kinds of things.

“Just to see the girls enjoying it and getting involved in golf is terrific.

“It’s a nice way to teach them etiquette, social skills and how to network.”

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