Golfer heads for green
FAIRLAND – Junior golfer has big dreams of one day winning the Masters Tournament.
This tall young man with his upright posture and lovely manners may be young, but with already 10 competitions, a win and a hole-in-one on under his belt, Rian de Bruyn is sure to go very far in his golf career.
De Bruyn matriculated from Hoërskool Randburg last year and is currently a first year student of computer science and informatics at the University of Johannesburg. De Bruyn smiled while explaining that he plans to get his degree and then he plans to become a professional golfer and hopefully win the Masters Tournament.
De Bruyn recently won in the B division of the Glacier Junior Series at The Country Club Johannesburg in Woodmead, and finished in 26th position overall out of more than 100 golfers. The B division is a division for players with a seven to 14 handicap. According to De Bruyn, he had an eight handicap at the start of the competition, but now has a handicap of six, thanks to his win.
At the end of June, De Bruyn will compete in another Glacier Series competition on Ernie Els’s golf course, the Copperleaf in Centurion. “I started playing golf on a serious level when I was 12 all thanks to a plastic golf kit,” said De Bruyn. He laughed saying that he got blisters on his hands, because he wouldn’t stop swinging his plastic clubs.
“The best golf course I played on was Sun City. We visited it during a school tour.” De Bruyn explained that golf is 95 per cent a mental game and advised people to always keep your head in the game and not get discouraged. You should just brush defeats off and move on.
De Bruyn said he was proud that he got a hole-in-one when he was 15. “We were just playing a social game. I was having an off-day. The stroke did not go how I planned it.” That is what De Bruyn thought. “When we looked for the ball we saw that it was in the hole,” said De Bruyn.
For now, this golfer is going to study and get his degree, but be sure to see him one day sporting the green winner’s jacket at the Masters Tournament.
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