5 September 2023
Recently, after trials held at the Victoria Country Club, Kearsney College’s Reece Brown (see feature photo) was named in the KZN Schools u19A golf team, while Matthew Gouws was included in the u19B team. Their selections continue a fine tradition of golf excellence at the school.
Bruce Thompson, the Master in Charge of Golf, is now in his 13th year in the position, and his first captain was Martin Rohwer, a multiple winner on the Sunshine Tour, who recently competed in The Open Championship.
Creating opportunities
Part of the reason for Kearsney’s golf success is the school’s willingness to create opportunities for boys with talent, Thompson told Pinnacle Schools recently.
“That success is mostly based on what a lot of the boys do on their own, as well,” he added. “I think Reece and Matt spend a lot of time doing their own practice. My biggest thing is really trying to expose them to golf courses and giving them an opportunity to play more regularly.”
Golf is a time-consuming pursuit, and that has meant compromise from the school and the boys alike. For example, Matt attends extra maths classes, which opens up time for him to play the sport. During the third term, Matt plays football, but instead of practicing twice a week he spends one practice at football and the other is, instead, dedicated to golf.
During the first, third and fourth terms, the boys will play golf three days a week. During the second term, with its heavy schedule of inter-school rugby and hockey matches, it’s played slightly less frequently.
However, Kearsney is one of the only schools, if not the only school, that offers a reasonably comprehensive golf programme in the second term. Some boys play golf only. Others, like Matt, play hockey, too.
A Saturday sport
Golf is also treated as a Saturday sport at Kearsney. On some Saturdays that means a visit to the driving range, or maybe a putting or short game competition. On others, it means a visit to a golf course, and the courses the boys play are among the best to be found anywhere.
Selborne, Victoria Country Cub, Cotswold Downs, Prince’s Grant and Umhlali were the local names that came up in conversation. Durban clubs tend to not be available because of their busy schedules, but the choices up and down the KZN coast are outstanding.
Meanwhile, on a recent tour of the Eastern Cape, the Kearsney College team was able to play Humewood, Port Elizabeth Golf Club and Wedgewood, with Matt finishing as the runner-up in the individual competition. “I didn’t even know there were individual prizes. I was surprised,” he grinned.
Nurturing relationships
On some Saturdays, the boys are joined by their fathers. “It gives them an opportunity just to come out and see the boys,” Thompson said. “Often, I play with the dads. Sometimes, it will be a son and father with another son and father.”
As for their favourite courses, Reece’s is Cotswold Downs. It is Kearsney’s home course. In addition, he lives there. “I know it and I love it,” he said, adding that most of his low rounds have been achieved there.
“I also like other courses, like Victoria Country Club (VCC), for example. I mean that’s also a lovely course. It’s a mission for us to go play there, for our parents to give up the day and drive us there, but the school takes us there.”
VCC, like Cotswold Downs, has varying elevations. But, said Reece, he likes it because of its fast greens.
Matt, too, likes VCC. His reasons are open and honest: “I’ve just performed there in a lot of tournaments. I like it a lot. ”
Matthew Gouws shines for Kearsney on golf tour | Pinnacle Schools (pinnacle-schools.com)
Inter-provincial Tournament
When they represent KZN Schools later this year, however, the two Kearsney boys will be in action at the Irene Country Club, at a much higher altitude, where the ball flies for longer distances.
Even up country, there’s a helping hand from Kearsney, as Reece explained: “Mr Thompson normally gives us a little sheet, which says how far we hit the ball on the coast, and then he adds on 10 percent. Normally, in the practice rounds we experience what those distances actually are. Golf is quite a lot about feel. You normally feel your shot.”
Thompson said, in team competition, the players also discuss the courses, things like which is the better side of a green, and then they come to a decision on which is the best approach to each hole, to each shot.
This includes crossing school divides, he added. “There’s two boys from Maritzburg College who had a rugby fixture against Affies. They asked to go and play at Irene, so we will feed off of them. They are both are very good golfers, and the boys know them very well.”
From Kearsney to the USA
Reece is currently in grade 11 and Matt is in grade 10. In 2022, the Kearsney College 1st team, of which they were part, was made up largely of matric boys. Four of them are now playing golf at university in the United States. They include Julian Daws, who captained KZN A to the Inter-provincial title, and who was also selected for the SA Schools side.
Having him leading the Kearsney team was enjoyable, Reece said. “It was nice because you got to know him on a personal level… You could also mine his thoughts, as well. He shared a lot of what he thinks and what he does and that helped a lot.”
Seeing top players pass through Kearsney was motivating, Matt said: “It builds up confidence. It helps us know it’s possible for us [to excel, too].
Top golfers
Another example of a top Kearsney golfer, mentioned by Bruce Thompson, was Greg Mackay. In 2015, his matric year, when the SA Schools Tournament was hosted in Durban, he won the individual title. He also finished third in the KZN u23 Championships and was named the KZN u23 captain.
Greg is now campaigning on the Sunshine Tour. He has also offered to play with the current crop of Kearsney golfers.
Kearsney has earned a well-deserved reputation for academic excellence, and Greg Royston (matric class of 2013) is another shining example of a Kearsney boy who has excelled in the classroom and on the fairways.
At the school, he matriculated with nine distinctions and represented the SA Schools golf team. He, then, attended Harvard University, representing the renowned institution’s golf team for all four years he was there. During that time, he was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2015 and captained Harvard in his senior year.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude in Economics, he received the William J. Bingham Award for the most outstanding male student athlete of Harvard’s graduating class. Royston was subsequently accepted into Oxford University to do an MSc in Financial Economics.
Looking ahead into the near future, an important date lies ahead for Reece and Matt in late September, when they compete in a Ryder Cup format for a place in the KZN Golf Union team (not to be mistaken for the KZN Schools team). That provincial tournament will be played at the Centurion Golf Club.
Given their opportunities and the examples set by other Kearsney boys before them, neither will be intimidated by aiming high. That, after all, is a well-established path for the boys from Botha’s Hill.
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