Otto ready to Rise Up after an epic journey and a tragic loss

When the three-time European Tour champion tees it up at Glendower Golf Club on Wednesday for the start of this week’s African Bank Sunshine Tour Championship, he will do so as a golfer looking for that next win in his career, as a husband dealing with the recent passing of his wife, and as a father rising up for his two young boys.

“It’s been tough. It’s hard losing your wife. But you know, you can’t sit still. You have to move on,” Otto said ahead of the second tournament in the Rise-Up Series.

Before returning to competition, Otto recently took his sons, Hennie Jnr (who was set to caddy for his father this week) and JJ, on a 4 500-kilometre road trip around South Africa for the three of them to deal with the loss.

“We visited all our friends on farms. We needed that, just to get away. It was nice for us to bond like that, and the boys are in a good space now,” he said.

Following their epic journey, Otto needed to shift his focus this week to a Glendower Golf Club course that had always been one of his favourites.

He finished second in the South African Open at Glendower in 2013, and he was second in the BMG Classic that same year.

“It’s an old-style golf course and I always just get a great feeling playing there,” he said.

“You have to actually play that golf course and think your way around it. You can’t just bomb it off the tee.

“If you can get it going there, you can score really well.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.