Randpark’s Massimo Mbetse is big on brains and birdies
On the golf course he can score in the 60s and in the classroom he shoots in the 90s. We’re talking about 21-year-old Massimo Mbetse who is a member at Randpark but is in his third year studying for a Business Marketing degree …
A Creepy Creek at Firethorn
If you are not observant, you will miss it. If you are discerning, you will see it. Either way, the creepy creek around the Firethorn course of the Randpark Golf Club will have an impact on your game …
Randpark 80 years old and getting better all the time
OUR fantastic Randpark Club is 80 years old this year and, most will agree, it has in that time become one of the top golf clubs in the country. The best? Maybe we’re biased but, seriously, we might well be the best …
Danish delight on fabulous Firethorn
IT ALL came down to a classic “back nine on Sunday duel” and Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen fought brilliantly to come from behind to edge out young playing partner Wilco Nienaber and win the Joburg Open on Randpark’s outstanding Firethorn course.
Hansen posted a bogey-free, four-under-par 67 following earlier rounds of 66, 68 and 64 for a 19-under-par 265 aggregate. Nienaber closed with bogeys at 17 and 18, his only dropped shots of the day, on his way to a 70 and second place on 267, with Wilco’s fellow South African Shaun Norris shooting a superb 66 to claim third spot on 268 …
Joburg Open: Wonderboy Wilco: Big drives, big putts, big talent
JOBURG Open 54-hole leader Wilco Nienaber has led the long driving stats on the European Tour this year, regularly hitting booming tee-shots over 400 yards. In round two in the Joburg Open on Randpark’s Firethorn course on Friday he averaged a mammoth 416 yards with his “bombs”.
The Free State flier carded a four-under-par 67 Saturday and is on 16-under-par 197 for the tournament, just one ahead of Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen, who posted a day’s best seven-under 64 to be on 198 …
Birdies aplenty at fabulous Firethorn as Blaauw leads Joburg Open
JACQUES Blaauw compiled a brilliant eight-under-par 63 on Firethorn in the second round of the Joburg Open to take the halfway lead on Friday on 13-under-par 129.
It was technically a provisional lead as a few players were unable to finish their rounds because of a weather delay but no-one was in a position to catch Blaauw.
The 34-year-old who plays out of the Els Club, Copperleaf, stormed home in just 31 shots on the back nine on a stormy day after play was suspended for a lengthy spell in mid-afternoon because of a thunderstorm …
Wilco and his fantastic 439-yard Joburg Open drive
CALL it simply ‘The 439 Drive’ and perhaps, in terms of great moments in South Africa sport, it will be remembered as gloriously outrageous as was ‘The 438 Game’ when South Africa’s cricketers scored a mammoth 438 runs to beat Australia’s daunting 434 total to win the 2006 ODI at the Wanderers to clinch the series for the home side.
On Thursday in the first round of golf’s Joburg Open at Randpark, Wilco Nienaber hit a monster – unbelievable actually – 439-yard drive on the 597-yard, par-5 fourth hole …
Michael out to hit hot ‘home run’ on Firethorn in Joburg Open
GRIP-it-and-rip Anthony Michael will be carrying Randpark’s hopes in this week’s Joburg Open, and knows that a win would be “life-changing” for him.
In his 11-year stint as a tournament professional Michael has played well enough to earn R5,3-million in prize-money with his best finish in a European Tour event co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour being third place in the 2016 Tshwane Open …
The Masters Then and Now
THE Joburg Open starts right here at Randpark next week but in the meantime it’s the Masters this week in America with seven South Africans in the line-up. And – on the subject of the annual Augusta National showpiece – it was 42 years ago that, coincidentally, a 42-year-old Gary Player wowed the golf world by winning his third Green Jacket following an absolutely storming finish to the Championship.
‘Addictive, fun’ global-leading Inrange® comes to Randpark
RANDPARK’s newly-installed Inrange® facility, with its industry-leading ball-tracking system to create the ideal practice and entertainment environment for golfers of all levels, is only the second Inrange® facility in South Africa, and indeed the whole of Africa …
Erwee and Kim in the pink as Randpark’s 2020 Club Champions
Equity Trader Erwee Botha’s shares continue to go through the roof. But in this instance we’re not talking the JSE, you understand. Rather, it’s his fast growing stature as a golfer at Randpark.
The former Central Gauteng provincial golfer has won the men’s Club Championships for what is believed to be a record sixth time following a gross round of 73 at Firethorn on Sunday and a 71 at Bushwillow on Saturday. That gave him a level-par 36-hole 144 aggregate …
The US Open: A nine-putt green, and Els dodges a ‘klap’ from his old man
THE 120th edition of the US Open, switched from its usual spot in July to September because of the pandemic, begins this Thursday at Winged Foot’s West Course in the state of New York. There are six South Africans in the field – Louis Oosthuizen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Erik van Rooyen, Justin Harding, Shaun Norris and JC Ritchie, and hopefully one of them will create history by emerging as champion, and thereby emulating compatriots …
Randpark offers the very best for junior golfers thanks to Darren Witter and Stuart Blackie
BOTH men are driven by an intense passion in what they are doing, and their dedication is second to none. We’re talking about Randpark’s topline AAA PGA Coaching Professionals Darren Witter and Stuart Blackie who think nothing of working seven days a week in their mission to make a difference and grow the game and the industry …
Jeremy Campion – Randpark’s CHAMPION golf photographer and CHAMPION one-putter!
RENOWNED golf photographer Jeremy Campion, who sent back to South Africa brilliant images from the 27 straight British Open he attended as an accredited Press cameraman, is one of Randpark’s long-standing members who has a great love for the club.
And perhaps this super senior – who looks considerably younger than his 76 years – should now be renamed Jeremy CHAMPION! (This after a TATS competition on Thursday, August 20).
After starting his round by hitting his tee-shot into the river on Firethorn’s first hole, he – as he puts it – “duffed the next couple of shots” before finding himself just short of the green lying five …
Bullett drives: Whacking it like Wilco
WHEN Wilco Nienaber hits a golf ball, it stays hit. So, if you don’t follow professional golf too closely, who is Wilco Nienaber anyway? Well, he’s a tall, wiry 20-year-old South African from Bloemfontein who turned professional last year after winning the SA Amateur. In fact he won no less than 21 titles as an amateur. And now he’s beginning to make his presence felt in the pro ranks – not only for his par-busting antics, but because he hits the ball further, considerably further, than pretty much anyone else on the major world tours …