New golf development manager for Gauteng North

Former president of the Gauteng North Golf Union, Willie van Zyl, has been appointed as the SA Golf Development Board’s development manager for Gauteng North. Van Zyl has a long association with golf administration and his experience will add impetus to development programmes in the region.

Van Zyl’s involvement with golf started at Humewood GC in the Eastern Cape, where his father was the club pro for many years. Van Zyl was the club champion in 1970 and also sat on the club committee and captained the league A team for a number of years.

Van Zyl moved to Pretoria in the 1980s, and has been a member of the Gauteng North Golf Union executive since 1995. He has served as team manager for both the Gauteng North Premier team and the Gauteng North Senior Amateur team and assistant manager for the South African national team. He currently sits on the Gauteng North executive as the representative to the SAGA.

“Golf and golf administration have been very kind to me and my family,” Van Zyl says. “I thus see my new position as an opportunity to share and give back of my own knowledge and experience to those less fortunate.”

Van Zyl appreciates that golf development requires a lot of commitment from all concerned, and so is especially pleased by the support already shown by clubs in Gauteng North. He points out that Hillside, Cullinan, Pretoria, Akasia and Seasons golf clubs are already fully involved in development. He says that the “adopt-a-chapter” concept has already met with approval from clubs and he hopes that the phrase joint ventures for golf development will become a reality in the region.

The Gauteng North Golf Union has already agreed that a regional committee made up of representatives from the SA Junior Golf Foundation, SAGDB, Nomads, the union and high schools be established to build junior golf in the region.

“I think I can say with a degree of confidence that Gauteng North is serious about development,” Van Zyl says. “My objectives now are to get the prescribed infrastructure of the SAGDB in place with the coaches, clubs and students. Through successful discussion and communication more clubs will come on board.”