The growing strength of golf development in Border

The Eastern Cape is often hailed as the centre of sports development in South Africa. With a rich sporting history and a sports-mad population, the region is the birth place of some of the countries greatest success stories such as Makhaya Ntini, Jongi Nokwe, Ashwell Prince and James Kamte.

The SA Golf Development Board (SAGDB) in the region aims to continue this tradition by providing its PGA-approved coaching to youngsters in the Border and Easten Province regions.

Border has become a particularly important region for the SAGDB, and one that enjoys extensive support from clubs and the official golfing bodies. Both the Border Golf Union (BGU) and Border Ladies Golf Union (BLGU) have been providing valuable assistance to the SAGDB programme.

"The BGU helped us a lot last year with the extra funds for playing in Junior Golf Foundation tournaments," explains the SAGDB's Border development manager Millie Zim. "The money was raised through "Rand-A-Round. The BGU President has promised to assist again this year."

The Ladies Union has been a long-time supporter of golf development in the region and currently pays the membership fees for seven SAGDB girls at West Bank Golf Club. They have also been forthcoming with funds for tournaments.

"Whenever there is a tournament, the BLGU takes the responsibility to pay for our girls," Zim says. "They also pay for their flights, accommodation and tournament fees for the annual SA girls championships."

The SAGDB has also benefited from the Ben Jonas Trust, which was set up to support the growth of golf in the Border region.

"We have u/12 and u/16 players that have been selected for Border to play at the Fish River and Aliwal North inter-provincial tournaments," Zim explains. "This would usually cost each player more than R3000 each for their transport, clothing, accommodation, caddy fees, meals and green fees. The SAGDB is now able to pay half and the Trust the other half so that these players can go and compete at this level."

Encouragingly, the funds held in this trust are not only used for the golfers aged 18 and under in the SAGDB programme, but also for promising players still eligible for u/23 teams.

The SAGDB is also enjoying the support of a number of clubs in the region that allow the youngsters in the programme to play on the course once a week at no charge. They also make their facilities available for monthly competitions. This all means that players benefit from extra time on the course.

"West Bank Golf Club is also using our girls to play for them in their league matches," Zim adds. "They cover their costs and the girls benefit by gaining experience in matchplay."

While there is extensive support for the SAGDB programme, the constant problem of transport still concerns Zim. As the players all come from poorer areas some distance from golf facilities, transporting them to the course or driving range is a constant expense.

"We are working on getting our own bus to be able to transport all the players in one go," she says.

For 2009, Zim's goal is to have more players selected to their age group provincial teams. SAGDB players are already represented in the Border u/12 and u/16 teams, but she is hoping that soon they will be gaining colours at all levels.

"We want our players to be in all the age groups representing the province," she says.