UGC keeps eager eye on its Sunshine Tour pro-golfer

By P Utter

GARTH Mulroy, one of Umkomaas Golf Club’s (UGC) PGA ‘boys’, has made a welcome return to the South African Sunshine Tour at the Eye of Africa PGA Championships on weekend of 10 February.

From 15 to 18 February, he was down at Fancourt playing in the Dimesion Data Pro-Am, with a vast improvement on the previous weekend by shooting a 65, 74, 74 and a 68 in the final round, to place him T32 and -8.

For any golfer interested in the Sunshine Tour, the next tournament on the calendar is the Sun International Cape Town Open being played at the King David Mowbray Golf Club. This should be an easy tournament to watch as it’s in SA’s time zone.

The club welcomed Allan Eriksen and Rudi and Magrit (surname not supplied) to the individual stableford competition last Wednesday. A surprise winner in the form of Dudley Pringle was in first place on his superb 40 points with Peter Toward taking second spot with 38 points. Rob Mathias scooped third spot on a count out from Rob Finlay, both players on 37 points.

For various reasons, the field on Saturday, 17 February was disappointing but the players who were at the club enjoyed the unexpected individual stableford competition. In first place was Patrick Ndlovu with 40 points with Barrie Taylor, hot on his heels, in second place with 39 points. Taking third slot was Bruce Sutcliffe, quite a way behind Patrick and Barrie, in third place with 33 points. The jackpot will be carried over, as will the attendance draw (Rory Bernadis) but the hidden birdie is hidden no more, as Patrick Ndlovu found it on the very first hole.

Unusually, there were no two-clubs either. Well done to all the players and winners.

This Saturday, 24 February sees the start of the long-awaited Alliance League (hope you’ve all read the rules), so get your teams together since a few of the players have either left the club or are in a different team. Some of the team names have changed as well – interesting times lay ahead. There will be social golf on Sunday, 25 February – call the club on 039-973- 1042 to book your time.

A reminder of UGC’s quiz evening on Friday, 23 February from 6.30pm to start at 7pm. Food will be available in the form of a build-a-burger at a nominal price. The charge to enter the quiz is R25 per person (R100 per team of four). This is a great way for the whole family to exercise their ‘grey matter’ and entrants are guaranteed to have fun with much laughter with friends, old and new, so take the family along and join in the hilarity of the evening. To book your table, call the club on 039-973-1042.

Six-pin will also be on Friday afternoon from roughly 2.30pm onwards. The players who play six-pin might want to stay a while longer and join in the quiz evening as well.

Tuesdays and Fridays is still reserved for the early bird special before 7.30am. Green fees are R75 for a round of 18 holes. Contact Graham on 083-325-5705 to arrange a game.

KidzGolf was looking particularly good last Saturday, with lots of new faces wishing to know more about this challenging game. For any youngster wishing to learn more, coach Devlyn is on hand to help and guide you in the right direction. Be at the club’s practise putting green at 8am on Saturday mornings, only during the school term.

Call the club for more details or go to www.umkomaasgolf.co.za