Pupils get into the swing of things
A development project has started at the Kloof Country Club to teach young children from the Valley of 1000 Hills to play golf.
FOURTEEN primary school children from the Valley of 1 000 Hills are excited to be part of the golfing development project at the Kloof Country Club.
Sue Rohwer, a Gillitts resident and avid golfer, conceptualised the project and spent six months putting it together to ensure its sustainability. Sue said golf was a passion of hers and she has played the sport for about 14 years and it was something she grew up with and the tradition has since continued in her own household.
“I started the development programme when Lee Mthembu qualified for his PGA (professional golf association certificate) at the end of 2015, and thought that it would be a great idea to begin a development programme using his expertise as he is a newly qualified PGA coach,” said Sue.
There are currently 14 children, six girls and eight boys, from Empilweni Primary School taking part in the project. The course has been running for the past two months and is headed up by Lee Mthembu and Ryan Waters, a coach at the Kloof Country Club. The children, aged from eight-years-old to 13-years-old, go to the club every Thursday and upon arrival are given refreshments and have an hour’s coaching and then are taken back to school afterwards.
“The children have grown in enthusiasm and have even asked if they could play each Saturday to continue training,” said proud Sue. She then donated a bag of golf clubs to the children so that they can also train during the week after school. I was told that one of the children is seen in the valley swinging a stick to practice his swing.”
Nkosinathi Mbambo, a teacher at the primary school, said the private tutoring had given the pupils a boost of energy and self confidence. “I am very happy that these children can take part in this sport as many of them come from disadvantaged homes and it has given them the opportunity to see there is more they can do outside of soccer and netball.”
“A big thank you goes to the KZN Golf Union and the KZN Ladies’ Golf Union for their sponsorship,” said Sue. The programme is in need of junior clubs, to donate e-mail Sue at rohwer@iafrica.com.
