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Home / Golf caddies rewarded at regional challenge
Golf caddies rewarded at regional challenge
2015-05-12Staff Report 2 Windhoek Bank Windhoek and the Namibia Amateur Ladies Golf Union (NALGU) initiated a joint venture to award caddies who assisted golfers at the Southern Regional All Africa Challenge Golf Trophy (SRAACT) tournament. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland sponsored the tournament which took place from April 28 to 30 at the Omeya Golf Estate, outside Windhoek, to the amount of N$18 000. Bank Windhoek acted as co-sponsor with a sponsorship of N$16 500 towards the flag-raising and flag-lowering ceremonies, as well as three prizes for the caddies. Twenty-five participants from five countries in the Southern African region, namely Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, South Africa and Namibia took part in the event. South Africa won the trophy, followed by Zimbabwe in second place and Namibia in third place. Erastus Jasper, caddying for the youngest participant Danielle Bekker from Zimbabwe was named the best caddy of the tournament, winning a meat hamper worth N$800. In second place was Paulus Shipanga who also won a meat hamper worth N$500, followed by Samuel Shipanga in third place with a meat hamper worth N$500. Twenty caddies had the task of assisting players from the five participating countries during the RAACT practice round, the Bank Windhoek NALGU Open Championships and the Southern Regional All Africa Challenge Golf Trophy from April 24 – 30, 2015. Thea Groenewald, president of NALGU said: “For most of the players, Omeya was a totally strange course. The caddies had to direct them on the course and assist with distances and club selection as well as reading putting lines on the excellent greens of Omeya. The winning score in the Bank Windhoek Ladies Open Strokeplay Championships was 3 under par. Demi Flanagan’s caddy certainly contributed to her success.” Over the six rounds of golf in which caddies were used, very few balls were lost in the long and challenging rough of Omeya. Heavy bags had to be carried over a distance of almost 42km during the two tournaments. Bronwyn Moody, communication practitioner at Bank Windhoek said caddies needed to be rewarded for their efforts in making the competition an exciting and successful experience for the golfers. “Caddies are often seen as an unimportant aspect of the game, but their knowledge and experience are of great value to the game. They could also be of great value in keeping players motivated and calm in difficult situations on the golf course. It is then only fair that we reward them for their hard work, because without them, golf would not be a complete and enjoyable experience.” 2015-05-12Staff Report 2
