Girls Love Golf
Website launching in June 2009
CONTACT DETAILS:
Coordinator:
Mrs Ria Bestbier, PO Box 325, Jerrfies Bay 6330
Tel/Fax: 042 296 1162
Email: nakria@telkomsa.net
GAUTENG NORTH GOLF UNION GIRLS LOVE GOLF DAY
17 MAY 2009
SERVICES GOLF CLUB
WEATHER: SUNNY AND MILD
The second Girls Love Golf golf day for junior girls was held at Services Golf Club on Sunday 17 May 2009. 34 little girls, including 8 new little beginner girl golfers, arrived all eager and ready with their moms and dads and cute little golf bags and kit to play some golf! Waiting for them at their arrival, was the Gauteng North Golf Union's provincial women's team players and training squad players who again volunteered to assist the little girls on the driving rang, the putting green and eventually the golf course for a bit of fun.
After warming up on the driving range and receiving some tips on the putting green, the girls proceeded to the 10th hole to play a six hole competition on shortened course especially set up for them by Services Golf Club.
The competition format was a four ball alliance, the best score to count off a scramble drive, assisted by the provincial player who was only allowed to tee off with a pitching wedge. In the first four ball already, two of the little girls managed to out-drive their provincial team player with their little drivers, much off course to the delight of the parents and spectators!
Once again, parents and family encouraged the little players, either cheering where good shots were played or comforting where the little one seemed to loose a bit of steam.
The winners of the day were Larissa du Preez (13), Promise Ntshontshi (15), Tessa Liebenberg (13) (all Akasia Golf Club) and Moné Dewey (15)(Pebble Rock Golf Club), who scored 23 points with the assistance of Kim Williams. Moné Dewey made a lovely birdie on the par 3 - 11th and scored a full 5 points for her team.
In second place was Connie Chen's team Jamie Catterick (12) (Woodhill Country Club, Mariette Krugel (12) (Akasia Golf Club) Nomphumelelo Sindane (12) (Hillside Golf Club) and Carlett Buys (13) (Waterkloof Golf Club) with 22 points.
The third place went to Marnel Smit (11) (Akasia Golf Club), Simoné Staats (11) (Akasia Golf Club), Lieze Nel (11) and Busizwe Nkosi (11) (Hilside Golf Club) with 21 points, assisted by Biance Barnard to be followed in fourth place by Marné Roos' team, Christine van Zyl (11) (Pebble Rock Golf Club), Lorin Dewey (12) (Pebble Rock Golf Course), Monique van der Spuy (12) Akasia Golf Club) and Celine Smit (12) (Akasia Golf Club) with 18 points.
The day was ended with lunch, prize giving and a group photograph of all the participants and a special prize and song for Kate Mabolabola (13) from Elsabe Hefer's Training Academy at Zwartkops, who celebrated her birthday.
GIRLS LOVE GOLF DAY 28 FEBRUARY 2009 AKASIA GOLF CLUB
With the guidance and assistance of Keri van Velzen of the Women's World Cup and the head coach at Akasia Golf Club, Dieter Snyders, Gauteng North Golf Union and North West Women's Golf joined forces to host their first Girls Love Golf day on Saturday 28 February 2009 at Akasia Golf Club in Pretoria North.
42 girls, ranging between ages 4 ½ and 18 years, participated in the day: 8 girls from NW's development program at Season's Golf Club; 10 girls from Olievenhout Bosch training with Elsabe Hefer at Zwartkop CC under the patronage of WWC of Golf; 6 girls from the GNGU Development program (Hillside GC and Klipgat GC); 15 girls from Akasia GC with Dieter's academy and 3 from other clubs in the GNGU region.
The CEO of the Women's World Cup, Ms Tania Fourie paid us a surprise visit and took off time from her busy schedule to attend the opening of the day, to welcome the girls and to tell the girls about Project 2014.
After the opening, the girls were assisted by various provincial players from the NW and GNGU women's teams and students from the University of Pretoria's High Performance Centre to warm up on the driving range and to practice putting and chipping before they were divided into groups to play either 9, 6 or 3 holes with the assistance of the players and some very keen parents. The competition of the day was an alliance with a scramble drive.
The youngest participant of the day was little Omphilwe Mofokeng (seen teeing off in one of the photographs) from Hentie Clack's development program at Seasons Golf Club. Omphilwe is only 4 ½ years old, yet, she wants to follow in her mother, Mpho, who plays golf at Seasons, and her elder sister, Nthabiseng (14) who is also in the program's footsteps.
Although some of the girls really battled, as most of them have never played on a golf course before and probably found the experience completely overwhelming, the encouragement and cheers of the assistants and parents created a relaxed environment and improvement could soon be seen in the confidence and the swings. Some girls showed remarkable talent and displayed good prospects for the future.
Unfortunately one of the typical Pretoria lightning storms forced the girls off the course before play could be finished. The girls were all treated to snacks and drinks and a lucky draw prize giving after the day.
PAARL GOLF CLUB'S GIRLS LOVE GOLF DAY
Thirty three excited girls teed off in Paarl Golf Club's first Girls Love Golf Day on Sunday afternoon, 22 February 2009. Supported by parents and organisers, the girls played in an American Scramble and each of the 11 three ball groups was accompanied by a "mentor and scorer". The six older groups played 6 holes while five 3-balls with little girls played three holes.
The winners of the older groups were Mareth Viljoen, Carla Griessel and Claudia Pfeiffer and the younger winners were Anelia Kleynhans, Githe Grobbelaar and Cassidy Caister. These winners were all presented with Girls Love Golf bags - very sought-after items which will encourage them all to play in the next event. The scorers/mentors all received Girls Love Golf hat clips/ball markers. These were also awarded to the three girls who had attained handicaps, Mareth Viljoen, Lanelle le Grange and Bianca Lohbauer.
The local rules declared bunkers, hazards and the rough out of play and only the girls with official handicaps were not allowed to tee-up on the fairways. This was for the benefit of girls who had never been on a golf course before enabling them to enjoy their afternoon. The mentors' duties included demonstrations of pitch repairing, repairing divots and general course etiquette and all the players were beautifully behaved and a pleasure to watch.
This programme now has 51 girls at Paarl Golf Club who receive coaching from Ben Fouchee and his assistant Sieg Shreve once a week. They are also taken onto the course after the field turns on Saturday afternoons to play the course for two hours.
FULL RESULTS:
Seniors: 1. Mareth Viljoen, Carla Griessel and Claudia Pfeiffer; 2. Iska Rust, Leché Goiliath and Karla Nolte; 3. Lanelle le Grange, Kathrin du Toit and Tanja Swart.
Juniors: 1. Anelia Kleynhans, Githe Grobbelaar and Cassidy Caister; 2. Nina Cuyler, Carla Burger and Hillet van Molendorff.
WHAT IS GIRLS LOVE GOLF?
Girls Love Golf is a Women's Golf South Africa initiative which aims to increase the number of girls playing golf in South Africa and take women's golf forward in the coming years. WGSA hopes to identify girls who wish to play golf, provide instruction by professional golfers, and then mentor them at golf clubs throughout South Africa.
Eastern Cape President Ria Bestbier has been appointed as Co-Ordinator of Girls Love Golf and it is hoped that the Girls Love Golf website ww.girlslovegolf.co.za will be up and running in March 2009.
The Girls Love Golf concept was inspired when talking to the Netherlands Golf Foundation on their trip to SA in October 2007 where they had launched their Girls 4 Golf programme. There is also a very successful Girls Golf programme in the US where the LPGA and the US golf assoc have formed a partnership to grow the game aimed specifically at the girls.
A number of girls have been identified in the North West, Gauteng and the Southern Cape and placed with coaches. Once the girls are able to strike the ball in a competent manner, the Girls Love Golf programme introduces the girls to Golf Clubs, takes them on the golf course and assists them in obtaining handicaps. There will also be competitions for the girls in all areas. A number of Provinces have run very successful Girls Love Golf days and a number of girls have already obtained handicaps and become part of their Province's Junior Squad.
Once handicapped, each player receives a number towards achieving our goal of registering 2014 girls by the year 2014. The number of registered girls was 202 at the end of 2008. Girls Love Golf will mentor the girls, introduce them to players of similar ability, hopefully strike up new friendships and have lots of fun while becoming competent golfers. Each player will receive a journal which will help her keep track of her development in golf, and include her golfing photographs, autographs of her favourite golfers, coaching tips, etc.
Golf administrators need to provide every opportunity to our young girls to play in a competitive environment so as to progress in the game, learn the lessons inherent to the game - respect, perseverance, honesty. Golf provides a healthy environment for girls to play golf, have social interaction with their peers and build up their self confidence - these skills will not only help with their golf but also with the challenges they will face in today's world.
Contact details:
Ria Bestbier - Tel/Fax: 042 296 1162; Cell: 083 597 8340; email: nakria@telkomsa.net
