MITCH Hampson, one of the province’s more promising golf prospects, has been having a tough old time of it lately.
Much of it has to do with his back, which has caused him some problems and reduced the amount of golf he has been able to play.
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Back issues are nothing new to the sport of golf, with even the very best affected, think Tiger Woods.
There are others who play through the pain, but you can get a sense of who they might be if you watch closely – the stretches and leans are a giveaway.
Mitch is young, only in matric – at Westville Boys’ High School – and so wisely has sought medical help to get to the root of the problem.
At the moment he is awaiting results of the various scans but it looks likely he will have to give his back a few months to rest before getting back into serious tournament and league action.
He was hoping to have been fit enough to play in the KwaZulu-Natal Country Districts Interzone tournament, scheduled for Dundee Golf Club this weekend.
“If my back is inflamed all I need is an injection and I may be fine to play Interzone,” he said last week, typical of his eagerness and die-hard attitude.
“But if it is a stress fracture then I am out of golf for about three months.”
Those were his comments before the event was postponed on Monday this week, due to the threat of the coronavirus (Covid-19).
Mitch had looked to be a definite selection for the KZN to play in the South African Country Districts tournament in mid May, hosted by Border Golf Union, but would probably have had to miss that as well due to school exams.
In some ways it just seems it’s not meant to be right now.
But now with the Covid-19 problems the world is facing at the moment, no one really knows what will happen when and if it will happen at all.
So, you could argue, this is the perfect time, despite the circumstances, for the burly youngster to get things straightened out with his back.
The Southern KZN team, which would have been defending the title, looked set to be loaded with Umdoni Park players, including Jason Gilliver, Mikhail van Brakel and the Cubitt twins, Jack and Luke.
Jason missed out on getting his tour card, so he may still have more to offer in the amateur ranks for the short-term.
Hopefully, South Africa will be able to contain the spread of the coronavirus and get life back to normal as soon as possible.
Obviously it will be important to maintain as much ‘social distancing’ in the coming weeks, but golf is one of the sports where there is already a certain amount of ‘isolation’.
With this in mind, should Mitch need only an anti-inflammatory injection, at the very least he’ll be able to spend hours working on his chipping and putting.
However, he may not be able to resist beating a few drivers 300m+ on the driving range!
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