Tony de Jesus, Andrew Corthing and Greg Smith have grand plans to revitalise the Durban Deep Golf Course.
Their goal is to generate interest in the sport within the community and continue the golf course’s legacy in Roodepoort. They will do this by upgrading the facilities and offering playing packages designed to suit the customer’s needs.
Andrew has a wealth of experience as a golf instructor. He travels all over South Africa as part of the South African Disabled Golf Association’s First Swing Programme. The programme is a series of clinics at participating South African schools for disabled children and youth – focusing not only on golf but on rehabilitation through golf as well.
The programme is designed to introduce disabled children to golf, and through golf to teach them vital life skills. It also provides broad exposure to golf-related industries such as the hospitality, golf course management and PR industries.
“Here at Durban Deep we want to create an opportunity for children to play the sport and dispel the stigma of golf being a rich people’s sport. Tony, who is the owner of the club, as well as Greg and I who are professional golfers want to make golf fun and affordable. We want to do away with the rules that stifle the growth of the sport,” said Andrew.
The area has previously been riddled with various problems, including a high crime rate, water stoppages and power outages, but Andrew has given his assurance that all those problems have fallen away.
“We have brought in the community to help us fight crime. They look after the property and make sure everything is safe. We haven’t had problems since we made the community part of the project. We also have generators so we will never be without power, and we have a borehole to supply water,” he said.
Andrew went on to say that the exciting part of the course revival is coming up, with new and positive ideas to attract the youth. One such idea is having nine par-3 holes. Par-3 holes are the shortest holes on a golf course – short enough for golfers to try to hit the green with a tee shot.
“It will be an 18-hole course but provision will be made for young children. We will also offer great packages. If customers just want to play 3 holes, or 6, they will be able to. We want customers to play according to the time they have available,” he said.
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