NEW LEADERSHIP FOR SA GOLF ASSOCIATION

NAADIR Agherdien is the new president of the South African Golf Association and will have two experienced men alongside him in his two-year term as head of the organisation. His senior vicepresident is Martin Saaiman and his junior vice-president is Henk Smith.

Together they have a 40-year experience in golf administration. They were elected at the annual meeting in Cape Town last week.

Agherdien is the head of IT governance, risk, security and compliance at Sanlam, which is one of the major sponsors of amateur golf in the country. He is a past president of Western Province Golf Union and Parow Golf Club, and vice-president of the board of the African Golf Confederation and has served the golfing community for 17 years.

SAPS human resources manager Saaiman has served the last 12 of his 20 years in golf administration at Ekurhuleni Golf Union.

Smith has guided golf teams for almost just as long as his 20-year career as an independent insurance broker and he served Western Province Golf at committee level since 2007.

“I am excited at the opportunity to build on the great work of my predecessors and deliver on our objective to grow the game of golf in South Africa,” said Agherdien.

GolfRSA chief executive officer, Grant Hepburn said: “We applaud Naadir’s appointment as president and we welcome Martin and Henk to the SAGA executive. There is a great rapport and understanding within this unit.”

IT HAS only happened half a dozen times since Dale Hayes won the first South African Strokeplay Championship in 1969, but Wilco Nienaber is determined to land the coveted double after his South African Amateur victory last week in Cape Town.

The country’s leading amateur, who claimed the flagship event on the 36th hole at King David Mowbray Golf Club, spearhead the local challenge against a 40-strong international line-up when the 72-hole tournament which began at De Zalze Golf Club yesterday.

Etienne Groenewald became the first golfer in 1980 to win the SA Amateur and SA Strokeplay in the same calendar year. Ben Fouchee (1987), Neville Clarke (1988), Titch Moore (1996) and Louis de Jager (2007) followed suit, while Jacques Blaauw joined this exceptional league of gentlemen when he scooped the Strokeplay title at Pearl Valley and the Matchplay title at Durban Country Club in 2008.

With only six “double winners” in 50 years, Nienaber knows the odds are stacked against him, but the Bloemfontein golfer is confident.

The 2019 ANA Inspiration is set for a major field with 26 major champions and 11 past champions confirmed for Mission Hills Country Club, April 4–7.

Defending champion Pernilla Lindberg headlines the list of 10 past champions returning to Rancho Mirage with fond memories of Mission Hills Country Club and Poppie’s Pond. Joining her in an elite group of players to make the famous leap is LPGA Tour Hall of Famer and seven-time Major champion, Inbee Park, World No 3 So Yeon Ryu, the youngest World No 1, Lydia Ko, 10-time LPGA Tour winner Lexi Thompson and Mission Hills veteran and two-time winner Karrie Webb.

Past champions playing: Brittany Lincicome, Inbee Park, Karrie Webb, Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko, Morgan Pressel, Pernilla Lindberg, So Yeon Ryu, Stacy Lewis,

Yani Tseng and Juli Inkster.