Carlos Kambaekwa
Windhoek-Who says there is no life after the beautiful game of football? Former national team footballers, defender George Gariseb and hard-galloping midfield anchorman Bertus Damon are making heat waves with the swing.
The pair are equally at home swinging golf clubs in the same manner they used to terrorise the opposition on the football pitch.
Unlike many of their peers who have gone into absolute obscurity upon retiring from football, Gariseb and Damon exchanged their football togs for golf clubs and appear to have lost none of their spirit in the area of sport.
The former footballers were amongst the medal collectors at the recently concluded annual Bank Windhoek Independence Golf Cup Championship celebrating Namibia’s independence, at the Windhoek Country Club and Golf Estate.
Former Ramblers FC blue-eyed boy Damon teamed up with Gariseb (African Stars) to claim first place in the one-day tourney, which was played in the better ball stableford format (44 points), walking away with a floating trophy and several lucrative prizes.
Adrift on 43 points, Mark Raidza and Toady Gurirab finished 2nd while the combination of George Martin and Chris van Lill tailed the pair in 3rd place on 41 points. A total of 56 golfers teed off for this year’s Bank Windhoek Independence Cup.
Speaking at the prize-giving ceremony, Bank Windhoek’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Strategy and Sustainability, Riaan van Rooyen, said his institution was proud to host the event.
“As a hundred percent Namibian owned bank, it makes sense to be part of the country’s independence celebrations. All of us owe a debt of gratitude to our government for working hard in ensuring peace and stability as well as making sure that we as Namibians have peaceful lives, where we can enjoy each other and practise the sport we love so dearly,” Van Rooyen said.