Marianne Merten
Driving from Cape Town to Khayelitsha, the green of the Western Cape’s first township golf range jumps out from the sandy, bush- covered surroundings. Water sprinklers are going at full force in the howling south- easter wind to ensure the greens and fairways are lush enough to satisfy even Ernie Els. The scenic, frequently cloud- covered mountain ranges in the distance make up for the lack of trees.
The six-hole, 50-tee course will soon be open to black golf enthusiasts who have had only the dusty township streets to practise their strokes.
The Khayelitsha Golf Range got off the ground with the help of the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust, a charity set up by the parents of the American student killed by Pan Africanist Congress youths in Guguletu in August 1993. For the past three years the trust has sponsored projects to help keep youngsters off the street and away from crime and violence.
“This is our opportunity to play,” says range manager Lungile Mbalo. “It’s a place where we can practise our shots. Now they practise between the houses where neighbours complain.”
The Khayelitsha Golf Club alone has 40 members and dozens of black golfers live in the townships stretching across the Mother City from Guguletu to Nyanga.
But the high cost of the sport – annual membership fees can run up to R2E000, the cheapest set of clubs costs R1E200 and hundreds of rands have to be spent on shoes and clothes – often puts a damper on aspirations.
About R1-million was raised to construct the range. Richard Johnston, a top international golf course designer, was signed on to lay out the bunkers and tees. Labourers from the township did all the landscaping and the construction work on the club house, pro-shop and restaurant.
But there still is a need for corporate sponsorship ahead of the formal launch in July. Golfers from Gauteng have donated second-hand golf clubs. A meeting with the Western Cape Professional Golfers Association’s development officers has finally been set up for next week.
Membership fees at the Khayelitsha range will be about half the going rate at white clubs. Balls are priced at R7 for 50 and R12 for 100. Clubs can also be hired.
“Membership is going to be huge. There are one million inhabitants in Khayelitsha. There are one million inhabitants in Mitchells Plain,” Mbalo says. “Out of this community we are going to produce a Tiger [Woods].”