Golf Club still abandoned with plans falling stray
Concerns have been raised and anticipation building to why the Randfontein Golf Club is not fully functional. Club director and co-owner has given some answers.
The Randfontein Golf Club has not been operating since April 2020 and everyone was hopeful that all of this would change by the end of 2022, but this didn’t happen either.
Director and co-owner of the club, Thaka Seboka said before the end of 2022, people would have seen boards going up to say what is going to happen at the club. Disappointingly and regrettably, Thaka confirmed the golf course is still closed.
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“We projected that the potential investors we were negotiating with, would by the time, have moved sufficiently enough to start indicating to the public the new status of the club.”
He added that they have a serious challenge of getting investors in Randfontein interested and some see Randfontein as an old mining town with few prospects of expanding, commercially and otherwise, and on their own, they don’t have enough funds to inject the necessary improvements they wish for.
“Funny enough almost all the investors that we have met, even though we have non-disclosure agreements with them, see the golf club as an ideal area for the establishment of a frail care centre. Doesn’t this speak more about Randfontein?”
According to Thaka, a shortened course from 18 holes to nine is still a possibility and alternatively, the 9 hole can still be played as 18 holes – on a loop basis.
• Also read: Why our golf course isn’t fully operational
“The development of these facilities, even though they will happen in a piecemeal fashion, must still take the development of the whole course holistically.”
When it comes to the condition of the tennis courts, he stated that they have been standing unused for a long time even before they bought the golf course.
“This again speaks to the disinterest of the people of Randfontein in matters that must improve the quality of the lives of their children! We are prepared to listen to anyone who comes up with a credible proposition for partnership in improving some of these facilities. This includes big businesses should they show any interest.”
According to Thaka, almost all club members deserted the club as a result of the pandemic and said ‘we shouldn’t forget that perspective when we deal with the fortunes of the golf course’.
He said the club can only be resuscitated when they have credible investors who have funds to inject into the course.
“Regrettably our previous potential partners didn’t take us where we wanted and to our disappointment they aborted. It may take us time but we are determined to make sure that the course turns into something that the people of Randfontein can be proud of. We are very open to ideas especially those that can lead to the resuscitation of the club.”
