On a Tuesday afternoon you would expect to see young boys sweating it out on a soccer field shouting ‘pass the ballâ€.
But when you hear phrases such as ‘nice swing†emanate from MC Weiler Primary School’s soccer pitch in Alexandra, then you know the winds of change have blown in a new era.
Golf is breaking new ground in Alex with young, aspiring female golfers having literally taken over the once traditional preserve of soccer.
Without wasting time, about 10 grade six golfers from the school line up near the goalposts for the day’s training session.
Each grabs a little astro turf mat, golf club and ball as she prepares to tee off.
In the background there’s another group of 10 grade five girls who are singing and chanting as they wait their turn.
The girls, aged between eight and 12 years, are part of the Santam Project Golf 2014, a Women’s World Cup Golf development initiative aimed at producing 2 014 black female golfers with handicaps by 2014.
For 40 weeks the girls will be taught various golf skills such as executing the short putt, long putt, chip shot, pitch shot, iron and wood shot.
About 500 girls are part of the development project taking place across the country, including North West, Gauteng North, Western Cape and the Southern Cape provinces.
Eighty-seven girls were screened for the Alexandra chapter and only 20 made the final cut.
Keri van Velzen, the national project manager, said the project is aimed at previously disadvantaged areas which are close to driving ranges or golf courses.
Changing the face of golf
‘We do not want such talent to go to waste. We normally visit schools and from there screen the girls before taking those who have potential. We don’t have black golfers in our amateur ranks and we would like to see that changing in the next couple of years,†she said.
Unlike in any other normal golf course where you will see golfers with one or two golf bags, in Alexandra the girls have only two little golf bags and they don’t have golf apparel.
They wear their school shoes, skirt and a golf T-shirt provided by the organisers. But that does not seem to diminish their passion for the expensive sport.
Most of these girls do not watch golf on television and are not familiar with the names of the professional players, but they want to be like them.
One of the project participants, 12-year-old Koketso Mona, said: ‘I want to be like the famous golfers who win tournaments. Though this is an easy sport unlike athletics where you get tired, it is difficult to know our heroes.
”I know that one day I will also win a major competition because I love golf.â€
Given the talent Mona possesses, if she continues to work hard, by the time she turns 18 her dream of winning a major tournament could come true.
She hits the ball very well to the other side of the goalposts, which is way over the 50m target.
Mona is one of the 10 girls who have completed the bronze programme, a basic introduction to golf.
Van Velzen described Mona as one of the talented girls in Alexandra. ‘She can swing the club. These girls are talented and we want to look after them. Some will not just be golfers but coaches and some will work in golf courses. But there are many challenges that we face.
Stumbling blocks
‘Some of the parents do not understand golf and are reluctant to let their children take part. We normally hold a briefing session for the parents before we kick-start the project so that they can allow the children to take part,†said Van Velzen.
One of the problems is a shortage of equipment. Project Golf 2014 will be at the Pro Shop in Woodmead this weekend encouraging golfers to donate their old clubs and equipment.
‘We would ideally like each girl to have her own set of clubs that she can take home to practise and play more regularly.
”The Pro Shop is allowing us to use its premises to drive our campaign of getting second-hand clubs and any other golf apparel from the thousands of golfers who use its shops.
”We would like to urge everyone to make his or her way to the Pro Shop,†said Van Velzen.