How ‘prudent’ SA golf saved money for a rainy corona day

Saving money for a rainy day is always prudent and thankfully South Africa’s golf governing bodies have been doing that and now, as
the Covid-19 pandemic has arrived like a flood, they are able to help those individuals who no longer have an income due to the lockdown.

Professional golfers have seen all their tournaments, even the most prestigious of them all, the Masters, cancelled or postponed to who
knows when and for them, not playing golf means not earning any money.

That also affects caddies, who will also be without income for however long lockdown lasts.

And coaches are also affected because they are not allowed to visit their charges or go to driving ranges.

But the Sunshine Tour, the Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA) and GolfRSA, the body running all amateur golf, have
announced they will be providing financial relief for golfers, caddies and coaches.

The Sunshine Tour and the WPGA will be paying a monthly stipend to their golfers and registered caddies for April and May, while GolfRSA will do the same for their accredited coaches.

The executives and staff of all three organisations have also agreed to take voluntary wage cuts.

“We’ve been prudent for so long thanks to an unbelievable board of directors who have looked after the money, so we’ve been able to build savings because we have respect for our members’ money. So we are delighted to be able to do this and also extremely pleased that the WPGA and GolfRSA are doing the same. We are all doing the right thing in an act of solidarity.

“Thanks also to our amazing sponsors, and the response from our pros and everybody has been fantastic. We all know we have a responsibility to the game. The Sunshine Tour also embarked on a charitable campaign to support FeedSA, which runs feeding schemes in the townships. And what our President Ramaphosa has done is amazing and I hope the rest of the world does the same,” Selwyn Nathan, the Sunshine Tour Commissioner, told The Citizen.

But apart from providing help to those in need right now, Nathan also has an eye on what will happen to golf further down the line, once the pandemic is over.

“We were supposed to start our new season in the first week of May and then work our way through Africa, going to Eswatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Fortunately we’ve got the cash flow and resources to absorb those losses, but please God, can we play soon? Just wish we could turn the clocks back. Where is our future income going to come from?

“It’s a really important time and when golf starts again we’ll have to build a new foundation and learn from our mistakes. Every sport and organisation will change. At the moment the whole golf industry is standing still.”

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