Golf Situated in the east of
Pretoria in South Africa’s Gauteng province, The Silver Lakes Golf Estate is a residential area centred around the stunning 18-hole Peter Matkowich-designed golf course. Unique to the continent of Africa, the golf club has introduced an educational programme for prospective young golf professionals, which provides an opportunity for them to gain an internationally recognised greenkeeping qualification.
Kevin Marks visited South Africa recently to see the programme in action
T
he Silver Lakes course opened for play in 1993 and is the centrepiece of a secure residential community of some 1,700 properties. The championship course, designed by
Peter Matkowich, the renowned Zimbabwean-born course architect and former professional golfer, measures 6,700 metres from the back tees.
Built on a former floodplain, it features many ponds, dams and streams created to manage the water around which the holes were created. A feature of the design is the double-greened island for the incoming holes and also an island fairway, the first I’ve seen in my career as a golf writer. This stunning facility is home to a unique academy, the brainchild of Derek Le Roux and Andrew McKenna. Derek Le Roux is an influential member at the club, who is the former chairman of the Silver Lakes Homeowners’ Association and CEO of Infussion Financial Services. He is also chairman of the Kungwini West Alliance (KWA), a collective representing the interests of twenty residential estates in the east of Pretoria. He has a law degree and
has carved a successful career in the Financial Services industry since 1995. Andrew McKenna is a proud Scotsman who was born in Johannesburg and grew up at Powfoot Golf Club in Scotland. After joining the PGA in 1992, he played the Tartan Tour circuit for ten years, gaining his European Tour card in 1997. He played on the Sunshine Tour from 1998 until 2002, his first contact with the land of his birth since his family’s move back to Scotland. His coaching career began in London in 2002, where he worked with John Jacobs and Jim Farmer before moving to South Africa as Director of Golf at the Euphoria Golf Estate situated in the Waterberg mountain range in the Limpopo Province. He established the Silver Lakes Golf Academy in 2010 and became Director of Golf in 2011. Over dinner, I had the opportunity to find out about the motivation behind the educational scheme and how it evolved. “It is very much a passion at Silver Lakes
to grow the game and open the doors of our facility to the African continent and provide a platform from which golf
Andrew McKenna, Director of Golf at Silver Lakes and inspiration behind the greenkeeping initiative
“Instead of losing these youngsters from the wider golf industry, why don’t we offer them some formal training in the art of greenkeeping, providing them with a long-term career if they don’t make it as a Golf Pro?”
24 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014
Greenkeeper Training
Qualifications: Out of Africa!
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156