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Wellness

Tee time: Standard Bank drives social impact with Women’s Pro-Am Golf Series

The tournament will create opportunities for professional and amateur golfers, raising the competitive level of the sport in SA

Standard Bank's Women's Pro-Am Golf Series will empower talented professional and amateur female golfers by creating more opportunities for playing time.
Standard Bank's Women's Pro-Am Golf Series will empower talented professional and amateur female golfers by creating more opportunities for playing time.
Image: Supplied/Standard Bank
In recognition of the fundamental role sport plays in driving social and economic development, Standard Bank is investing in various sporting initiatives this year, including the 2022 Women’s Pro-Am Golf series. 

The series has been expanded to reach more areas across SA with a focus on growing the sport at a national level. This year’s instalment will see the total prize money of the collective tournaments coming to just over R5m. 

Standard Bank’s sponsorship of the Pro-Am series and development programme is the bank’s commitment to provide support, services and lifestyle experiences that go beyond banking by partnering with new players in the ecosystem that will enrich people’s lives — taking away a basic “transactional” relationship.

“The growth in women’s golf has evolved tremendously and already showcases some of the highest talent on offer in SA. This is a sport where commitment, perseverance and the right opportunities matter more than who is stronger or faster. Because the sport should be about the quality of golf played, Standard Bank is backing SA women’s golf and giving women more platforms to succeed because ‘great golf is great golf’ regardless of who is playing,” says Schalk Kotze, head of affluent clients at Standard Bank.

Creating greater openness in the game of golf

This year’s Pro-Am series will see tournaments played not only in Gauteng, but at golf clubs in KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and North West provinces. This will empower talented professional and amateur female golfers by creating more opportunities for playing time — enabling them to hone their skills further. 

Initiated by Lifestyle Golf in collaboration with the Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA), the series, which is now in its second year, will consist of eight tournaments to be played each month from May until December 2022 at prestigious golf clubs across the country, from Mount Edgecombe in KZN to the St Francis Links in the Eastern Cape.

The first three-day tournament teed off on May 17 at Glendower Golf Club with the final tournament of this year’s series, the Pro-Am Invitational, to be played at Randpark Golf Club.

More playing time over the year 

Golf is one of the world’s most lucrative sports, with top participants in the men’s and women’s games among the highest-paid sportspeople on the planet. It is with this view that there is a concerted effort to bolster the women’s golf circuit from the usual SA Women’s Open which spans three months a season. The addition of the Pro-Am series to the tour will now allow for a further six months (nine months in total) of competitive golf to be played throughout the year, which bodes well for women golfers looking to refine their craft and make a name for themselves. 

“The 2022 Women’s Pro-Am Golf series allows for the creation of professional opportunities because of more game time which we hope will help in raising the competitive level of the sport on our local shores,” says Kotze.

We want to see women realise their potential and  live full and successful lives in the industry or their chosen professions
Jenny Havenga, Lifestyle Golf 

Standard Bank golf development programme goes national

About 100 girls between the ages of eight and 16 will continue to benefit from the groundbreaking Standard Bank Young Golfers Clinic. The clinic has been expanded this year to extend its reach beyond Gauteng and meet its vision of becoming a wide-reaching grassroots national programme. 

Launched in 2021, the Standard Bank Golf Development Programme is aimed at growing women’s golf on all levels and creating opportunities for young women from disadvantaged areas to forge professional careers for themselves in all aspects of the golf industry. 

“The mission and vision for these development programmes is to identify, nurture, upskill, and support talented young women from start to finish in building a solid life skill foundation. We want to see these women realise their potential and live full and successful lives in the industry or their chosen professions,” says Jenny Havenga from Lifestyle Golf. 

The 2022 development programme began ahead of the Pro-Am series on April 9 2022 and is scheduled to run over three terms to accommodate the girls and their school calendars at Serengeti Golf & Wildlife Estate in Johannesburg and at schools in Orange Farm, East London, and Durbanville. The programme covers four levels of abilities and learning and consists of fun activities, modified golf games and golf instructional clinics facilitated by WPGA coaches.

Last year, 15-year-old Tokollo Dhlamini from Orange Farm who participated in the programme was discovered in the search for candidates to play in the series. She did not have an existing coach and had little to no coaching in the two years she has played the game. Displaying great potential, Tokollo participated at the Pro-Am Invitational event in October last year. 

“As a financial institution it is vital to enable growth, particularly among young girls within the sports arena. It is important to equip those who have a vested interest in sports and to empower them in learning and growing within that ambit. Standard Bank is delighted to be the head sponsor of such an inspiring initiative and to be making a difference in the lives of young girls early in their lives and careers,” says Kotze.

This article was paid for by Standard Bank.