With the competition drawing to a close next week we thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up with Gerrie Kroucamp, the overwhelming leader of the Castle Lite Challenge, to discover the secrets of his remarkable success.
Castle Lite Challenge Leader – Gerrie Kroucamp
Gerrie, who plays out of the Gary Player designed Graceland Country Club at Secunda, has blown away the rest of the field in reducing his handicap from 36 down to 7! This is an exceptional achievement given that he knew absolutely nothing about the game when he took up the game on 13 June 2012.
A fan of the unique golfing style of Bubba Watson, Gerrie was introduced to golf by his young son who was learning through Playball Golf. “I didn’t want to be the only dad who didn’t know how to play,” Gerrie said.
A senior process controller at Sasol, he attributes his remarkable progress to ongoing lessons with PGA Training Professional Regardt van Heerden and to dedicating between 2 and 4 hours daily to practising. “The best tip I can give anyone who wants to better their game is to go for a few lesson with Regardt van Heerden. It’s going to be your best money spend ever.”
Golfers at all levels know that putting is the key to scoring, so it is not surprising that Gerrie identifies this as the strongest part of his game. His weakness is in the sand, but beware he is working on it!
In sporting terms Gerrie had previously focused on cricket. “I enjoyed playing cricket from a young age, but had more heart than skill. That changed when I grew up and started playing for the Bulldogs Cricket club in Secunda – my best bowling figures were 4 wickets for 1 run against Kinross.”
Although he has shown such a natural talent for golf, Gerrie has no regrets about not having taken the game up at a younger age. “I learned how to play golf at exactly the right time,” he said.
Gerrie is a huge fan of the Castle Lite Challenge and encourages his fellow amateurs to take part as it is a great platform to compete and incentive to reduce their handicaps.
When he entered the Challenge, Gerrie set himself the goal of getting his handicap low enough to qualify for the Johannesburg Royal Amateur Championship which takes place from 16 – 18 November 2012. Having achieved that goal, what is next? “For now my goal is to get my handicap to 3, after that it’s always going to be playing off scratch. The best part is that I’m playing on a Gary Player design golf course going for scratch.”
Asked to share something unusual about himself, Gerrie said: “I’m a good Chess player and above average Poker player, so bring you’re ‘A’ game.”
There you have it – you have been warned! Players have a week left to get out there to try catch Gerrie, good luck!
Quote
If you break 100, watch your golf. If you break 80, watch your business. ~ Joey Adams
Swing Easy!
Handicaps Network Africa
