Special feature Kroonstad to Kimberley
Bloemfontein Golf Club
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E - K R O O N S TA D TO K I M B E R L E Y
Special feature Kroonstad to Kimberley
Ever since the playing of the Mangaung Open (co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour) in Bloemfontein in March this year, we have been considering a road trip to the area. With the annual Barney Barnato tournament coming up in October at Kimberley Golf Club we decided that now was the time. ‘Kroonstad to Kimberley’ had a nice ring to it and off we went. This was an extremely enjoyable par-5 as we visited Kroonstad Country Club, Oppenheimer Park Golf Club, Bloemfontein Golf Club, Magersfontein Memorial Golf Estate and Kimberley Golf Club. Lovely golf courses, warm hospitality and rich golfing history combined to make this a very rewarding feature. Kroonstad Welkom
Kimberley Bloemfontein
2 Neville & Louis from SA Golf Trader
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Country membership special - R1300 per year. -Come and play anytime during the week at the lowest greenfees in the Free State. Contact the club to make all bookings.
Tel: 056 212 5169
The town of Kroonstad is the third largest in the Free State (after Bloemfontein and Welkom) and lies two hours’ drive on the N1 from Gauteng. Kroonstad is one of the Free State’s loveliest towns and lies on the banks of the Vals River, a tributary of the Vaal. It is situated in an area characterised by open spaces and an abundant variety of vegetation that makes it particularly beautiful. Kroonstad is a quaint town that serves as a good stop over en-route between Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, lying as it does at virtually at the halfway mark. Kroonstad offers an array of activities that include flea markets, fishing on the Vals River or at the Bloemhoek Dam, walking trails and July | August 2022
lion tours and lion and tiger interaction at Boskoppie Lion and Tiger park. Kroonstad still boasts much of the inherent rugged beauty which led the Voortrekkers to establish the town where they did. Sporting facilities of all kinds are well catered for, interestingly, the headquarters of the SA Jukskei Council was established here in 1951. In terms of golf, the Kroonstad Country Club, which was founded in 1889, is one of the oldest clubs in the country, the current golf course being a result of several changes that have been made throughout the years.
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New Mangaung Open brings international golf to Bloemfontein Bloemfontein now takes its place on the international golf schedule and the new $250 000 Mangaung Open which was played in the city earlier this year bears testimony to this. The tournament is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour and the inaugural event featured a selection of South African and international professionals who competed at both the Schoeman Park Golf Club and Bloemfontein Golf Club from 3-6 March.
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The Mangaung Open formed a key part of a record six South African tournaments that featured on the Challenge Tour schedule between February and March, and it certainly put the focus of an international audience on the city of Bloemfontein and the greater Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. At the official launch of the Mangaung Open at
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S P E C I A L F E AT U R E - K R O O N S TA D TO K I M B E R L E Y South Africa over this period.”
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Bloemfontein Golf Club Cllr. Mxolisi Siyonzana, the Executive Mayor of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, said “We are extremely excited to bring an event of international magnitude to Bloemfontein, which will provide not only much-needed economic stimulus to our local economy, but also international exposure in terms of what our city and this magnificent region of South Africa has to offer tourists.”
Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour, said: “The Sunshine Tour has a long and proud history of working with our major cities and
“The slogan of the Mangaung Metro is ‘At the Heart of it All’. In this instance, we are very proud to take our place at the heart of a strong schedule of international golf tournaments being played in
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SANGIRO LODGE
(051) 433 4813 www.sangirogamelodge.co.za
reception@sangirogamelodge.co.za
051 451 1761 • reception@bainslodge.co.za • www.bainslodge.co.za
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S P E C I A L F E AT U R E - K R O O N S TA D TO K I M B E R L E Y
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municipalities and using an international golf tournament to help them achieve their economic and tourism objectives. We’re delighted to have added the Mangaung Metro to our schedule through the Mangaung Open.” “Bloemfontein is no stranger to world-class golf and it was indeed here where Major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Retief Goosen won one of his first tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. As a Tour committed to our philosophy that ‘GreatnessBeginsHere’, and in partnership with the Challenge Tour and the international opportunities it offers, we’re sure South Africa’s next generation of stars will use this tournament as the launch for their own careers.”
“The new Mangaung Open occupies an important position in not only our South African schedule of tournaments, but also in helping us to provide a truly global schedule for our members. We are excited to work with the Sunshine Tour and the Mangaung Metro in helping to promote this unique part of South Africa to our global audience.” Denmark’s Oliver Hundeboll won the first event. His one-stroke victory earned him a maiden title on the Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour and made him yet another champion to come out of the famous Silkeborg Ry Golf Club in Denmark that is the home club of the country’s most famous golfer Thomas Bjørn, and also the regular golf club of the twins Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard.
Jamie Hodges, Head of the Challenge Tour, said:
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S P E C I A L F E AT U R E - K R O O N S TA D TO K I M B E R L E Y The Kimberley Golf Club, by virtue of its founding date 3rd July 1890, is rich in history, not only of its own, but also in the broader sense of the game in this country. A humble beginning in the halcyon days of the Diamond Fields – the greens began as sand putting browns, followed by diamondiferous blue ground, mats served for tees and dynamite was employed to blast the stones on the fairways (among many other oddities) – has finally evolved through to the current Bob Grimsdell designed parkland layout. The course today has two distinct faces, a green summer look that has the ball holding, and a frosted winter white look that has the ball rolling. Whichever the face the course remains particularly player friendly.
Of course the 19th hole is more consistent, inviting a warm welcome throughout the year. This can be ably testified by the hundreds of golfers who partake annualy in the Barney Barnato “Festival of Golf, Ribald and Revelry” held every October. Despite being situated in the middle of South Africa, Kimberley remains somewhat isolated. Visiting golfers, therefore, are most appreciated. In addition the Club has two exemplary neighbours, Sun International’s Flamingo Casino and the Kimberley Road Lodge. They naturally ensure added entertainment and easily accessible accommodation.
Home of The Barney Barnato (25-29 October) “The best amateur golf tournament in Africa”
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The remarkable story of Freddie Tait Most aspiring South African amateur golfers would savour the singular honour of being presented with the Freddie Tait Cup, an honour bestowed on the leading amateur in the South African open Championships. Few South African players today, however, are fully aware of Freddie Tait – the GOLFER, the SOLDIER or the MAN. Freddie Tait was born on 11th January 1870 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He began to play golf at the age of five. At seven years old he was allowed to play at St Andrews, the home of golf, and indeed, his home course for the remainder of his brief life. He rapidly developed into an outstanding player. In 1894 he set his first St Andrews record, a gross 72. Another 72 followed five months later at Carnoustie. That year he was low amateur in the (British) Open, finishing ninth overall. In 1896 he won his first (British) Amateur Championship. He was again leading amateur in the Open, finishing third overall. He also established course records at Muirfield, North Berwick and Morton Hall. 1897 saw further course records at Ganton and Blairgowrie. In 1898 he took his second Amateur Championship. At Sandwich and Woking he set two more course records.
competitive year. In February he established a course record at New Luffness. In May he lost the Amateur Championship in a play-off to the great English player John Ball. A month later he was leading amateur in the Open for the third occasion. In July he set his last record, a remarkable 63 at Archfield. On 2nd October he played his final golf match. Fittingly it was against his keenest rival – John Ball. Tait won the contest one-up after 36 holes. 21 days later Tait boarded the SS Orient as one of the 29 officers and 950 men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Highland Brigade, the famed “Black Watch”, for he was first and foremost a soldier having joined the army as a twenty-year-old in 1890. Their destination was South Africa and the Boer War. After disembarking at the Cape his battalion moved north to Modder River, some 30 kilometers south of Kimberley. In the early hours of the 10th of December British forces on night manoeuvres came under devastating Boer fire. The battle of Magersfontein had begun. The Black Watch at the forefront of the March was decimated, 355 men killed or wounded. Tait survived the onslaught with a thigh wound. After a period of convalescence, he returned
In 1899, aged just 29, Tait entered his last
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S P E C I A L F E AT U R E - K R O O N S TA D TO K I M B E R L E Y continued from page 31.. to the front in January 1900. On the 7th of February at the battle of Koedoesberg Drift, Tait, while leading his platoon in a forward rush, took a fatal shot through the chest. However remarkable his attributes as golfer and soldier were, probably neither matched that of his extraordinary charisma. He had a magnetic hold over all who met him. So, when Freddie sailed away on that first and final voyage, he left behind him scores of friends and thousands of admirers.
He, along with his fallen comrades, was buried in a simple ceremony on the bank of the Riet River at Koesdoesberg Drift. A small cross marked the spot – the left hand one of a group of three. In 1963 he was re-interred in the West End Cemetery, Kimberley, by the War Graves Board. A plain marble cross modestly records his name, dates of birth and death. In 1936 Tait’s putter was presented to the Kimberley Golf Club, the club closest to the point of his death, in accordance with his will. The Freddie Tait Cup was purchased from the surplus funds of the British Amateur Tour to South Africa in 1928 to be presented to the leading amateur in the S.A. Open. The cup bears the R&A Club die and crest and the medal die of the Army Golfing Society.
The news of his death stunned the Scottish public. Among the many letters of condolence sent to his father a paragraph in that from honorary secretary of St Andrews Golf Club well reflects the overall admiration and respect that so many people had for Tait:
The Freddie Tait Museum was opened at the Kimberley Golf Club in 1990, his putter forming the centre piece.
“Dear Mr Tait, …………..We are but humble working men of dear old St Andrews to whom Freddie Tait was something apart from all other men. Not alone by his golfing attributes was he so, for of no other golfer of his generation could it ever be said that they possessed the love and hero-worship which was so readily given to your soldier son”
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The Kimberley Golf Club hosted representatives from the Army Golf Club (UK), new Luffiness Golf Club, St Andrews, the Highland Brigade, the Black Watch and the Scots Guards in the Freddie Tait Golf Week in February 2000 staged to mark the 100th anniversary of Tait’s death. The Kimberley Golf Club annually holds the Freddie Tait Putter Competition.
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The Cygnature Boutique Lodge
The Cygnature Boutique lodge is situated on the Magersfontein Memorial Golf Estate and overlooks rolling hills and a beautiful swan filled pond. Away from the bustle, it offers a tranquil and relaxed atmosphere while still close enough to a myriad of entertainment, dining and leisure activities to suit leisure travelers, golfers and adventure seekers alike. Situated along the Modder River MMGE offers an 18 hole golf course.
3 Oaks Farm, Ritchie, 8700 ~ Phone: 082 934 7117 July | August 2022
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