LEADING LADY OF GOLF
OUNAME Mhotsha is Botswana’s first female professional golfer and is currently based in the USA playing for Alcorn State University.
At the age of 15, she was already dominating the golf ranks in Botswana as a junior where she attained 16 academic wins to date, which include two international wins. In 2017, the 27-year-old Siviya village born golfer, received scholarship to study Masters of Science in Forest Resources from the University of Arkansas in Monticello, USA.
The 2012 Leduamang Senior Sportswoman of the Year Award winner, Mhotsha was recently selected to be part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Young Leaders Programme, which will run from this year to 2026.
Our Reporter, PORTIA MLILO, had a chat with Mhotsha about her sports career and the IOC programme.
What inspired you to play golf?
My father introduced me to the sport but the person who inspired me was my immediate younger brother; he is super talented and just watching him play pushed me to work hard. As I grew older, I realised that golf had a lot of personal, financial, and educational benefits so I got inspired to take it to higher levels.
Who discovered your talent?
My talent was discovered by coaches that were part of the FNB golf development clinics in the mid-2000s. My father then hired a personal coach by the name of Edwin Madigela, who coached me throughout my childhood.
There is a perception that golf is an expensive sport, what’s your take on that?
I do agree that it is an expensive sport but I also believe that so is everything that is worth investing in because nothing comes cheap in life. However, I do believe that there are ways that golf can be made more accessible to lower income communities to help in decreasing the societal inequalities.
Your sister, Khensani Mhotsha, is also captain of the Botswana Golf Junior
national team; are you the one who inspired her to join the sport?
I do believe part of my purpose is to be a trailblazer for young girls who play golf in Africa and she gets to be part of the next generation of golfers alongside other African girls.
How much did relocating to the US help in terms of
improving your play?
It has helped me a lot because golf is very big in the US; it part of high school sports, so kids learnt it in a structured form at an early age in preparation for college golf and ultimately professional golf. Therefore, being in such a developed country definitely has its perks.
TO revive the love of poetry and to spread the message of love, healing, hope and especially the gospel of Jesus Christ, 23-year-old Tlamelo Office, a.k.a Midas, is putting together an evening of spoken word poetry dubbed ‘The Hand That Speaks’, set for April 29th at the Artcase Gallery.
“In addition to reigniting the love for poetry, The Hand that Speaks is also about cementing the importance of poetry as an art form like any other,” explained Office.
Also a published author, Midas has been doing poetry since her primary school days. “I started as a writer and when I got to junior school, I advanced to spoken word poetry. Eleven years into the game, she has two published books under her belt. The first was actually a feature with eight other poets contributing to the anthology called ‘Gifted Hands Poetry’. My solo book, which was published in 2021, is called Brave.”
“As a spoken word poet, the biggest person I have shared a stage with is Dato Seiko. I perform at weddings, various church events, birthday parties and also feature on other poets’ shows.”
Midas says that her vision concerning The Hand That Speaks is to have the poetry show on a quarterly basis.
“I want to use this platform to inspire people through poetry. Alongside other featured poets, we hope to tell our stories in a way that will inspire audiences.”
In her view, poetry is an undermined art. She argues that it is as powerful as any other, or even more, which she intends to prove to people.
Through collaborations, she hopes to showcase up and coming and unseen poets to the world.
“I may be the main act, but I want to see more up and coming artists who are extremely talented have that platform to showcase their talent and have the recognition they deserve. I want to reveal such hidden talents to the world.”
Midas’ day job is sales and marketing executive at a local institution that facilitates Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths [STEM) education to young people. “My desire is to incorporate art into the STEM education programme, reinforcing that as much as you can be a doctor or engineer, there is always art involved somewhere.”
Supporting her act will be Troy, Elaine and Lefika, who are all poets. Phomzi, Hlabile, Maxson, Ayanda and Princess will also take to the stage that night to serenade the audience with their sweet melodies.