High profile personalities grace Soweto Country Club's Pro-Am
22 March 2017
The second and final day of the City of Johannesburg’s Pro-Am tournament, held at the Soweto Country Club in Pimville on Human Rights Day, saw an increased number of high profile personalities from all corners of the country and beyond taking part.
Among them were Member of Parliament and leader of the United Democratic Movement General Bantu Holomisa; Nkhensani Chabane, widow of the late Minister of Public Administration Collins Chabane; Sonia Booth, businesswoman and wife of former Bafana Bafana star Matthew Booth; Chief Executive Officer of the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market Joe Mazibuko; Sports Administrator Ntambi Ravele; Dr Ralph Mgijima; top businessman Litha Nyhonyha; and construction mogul Dr Thandi Ndlovu.
A Pro-Am features teams of three amateur players each, with each team playing alongside a professional golfer.
The day mainly belonged to women golfers, who dominated the podium during the prize-giving ceremony. Among the women winners were Swazi professional golfer Nobuhle Dlamini, Bongi Tshabalala, Ravele and Dr Ndlovu.
Ravele and Patrick Madiba (men) each took home club covers and a pitchfix for achieving the longest 18-hole drive.
Nyhonyha (men) and Tshabalala (women) each walked away with a wedge and a pitchfix for the nearest 13-hole pin drive.
In the fourball alliances, the winners were Tshabalala, Patricia Swartz, Sam Bhembe and Zonder Lombard (golf bags); Mgijima, Ravele, Obed Matlou, Rato Thimba (travel bags); and Joel Manamela, Ndlovu, Madiba, Sipho Bujela (rain covers).
Speaking during the prize-giving, Johannesburg Executive Mayor Cllr Herman Mashaba said his administration would continue to support the Joburg Open if the Pro-Am was staged in Soweto on a permanent basis.
“The Joburg Open has been taking place in Johannesburg for the past 11 years. Only in the past two to three years has this event been ploughing back to previously disadvantaged communities. My administration is pro-poor and believes in responding to the needs of the residents of Johannesburg, particularly the indigent,” Mayor Mashaba said.
He said the City would be more than willing to work with anyone who was prepared to assist in improving the lives of the poor residents of Johannesburg.
“We aim to fight poverty, unemployment, crime and corruption. We aim to create an investor-friendly Johannesburg and grow the economy of our City,” he said.
The Pro-Am was supposed to have taken place as a precursor to the 11th edition of the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club in February. However, torrential rains put paid to that.
“It was by design that it rained those days when we were supposed to play. Mother Nature knew that this tournament belonged in Soweto,” Mashaba quipped. He said a lot of good was in the pipeline for the venue.
“The Sunshine Tour, under the leadership of Selwyn Nathan, was a godsend. He has been very generous. He has been at the forefront of the renovations at this venue. This venue will in no time be able to compete with any other golf country club in Johannesburg and the country. In fact, it will be on par with any in the world,” he said.
Cllr Mashaba said the venue should in the near future produce its own Enie Els, Gary Player and Tiger Woods.
“This venue is a gold mine. I can guarantee you that with the right investment it will produce professional golfers who will easily play in the US PGA and the European Tour,” he said.
Mashaba appealed to local communities to support the venue, “own it, take pride in it and protect it”.
David Dikobe, the club’s president, thanked Mashaba and Nathan for their support and confidence in his executive committee. “As president, I wish to assure the Mayor of Johannesburg and the CEO of Sunshine Tour that we will guard and protect this venue with all our might.”