AFTER the disruptions to the international golf schedule because of the pandemic and the cancellation of last month’s British Open, this week sees the first Major of the year taking place – the US PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco. Technically South Africa has six players in the line-up – Louis Oosthuizen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Erik van Rooyen, Charl Schwartzel, Dylan Frittelli and Shaun Norris. Branden Grace was also …

“I’m certainly not the shy, quiet type,” says Debbie Gillings. Which is just as well because anyone who holds down the position of club captain of a golf club needs to be a people’s person, able to communicate well verbally with fellow members in addition to being a hard-working, good organiser and administrator …

This week, exactly 20 years ago at St Andrews, a 30-year-old Ernie Els was trying hard to fight back the tears after he had holed his final putt for a 69 and a 277 total in that year’s Open Championship. I was covering the event for Independent Newspapers and Ernie asked me to join him on the short ride back to the Old Course Hotel where he was staying …