NEW CEO STONE HAS THE ZEST TO BE THE BEST

THE Stones are in the news again.

While Brandon Stone is finetuning his game for the bigger events on the European Tour and hopefully looking forward to making it into the US Masters next month, his mother Desiree, an astute administrator of the game, is also making a name for herself on one of the biggest golf estates in the greater Durban area.

Desiree was general manager of Mount Edgecombe Country Club a few years ago but as time went on the task of managing the No 2 housing estate was added to her job description. She rose to the challenges of both portfolios and now, after establishing herself in the job, the board at Mount Edgecombe have promoted her to CEO with added duties of running the entire estate – the two golf courses and the two housing estates.

Her management style has no doubt delighted the board, who have confidence in her strength to take the club to greater heights.

She was handed the running of the No 2 housing estate within two years of her being in the job as she introduced changes and innovations which put smiles on the faces of home owners and club members.

One of the big changes she incorporated with great input from all those living on the two estates and the club members was renaming the two 18-hole golf courses. The previously No 1 course became The Woods and the No 2 layout The Lakes. Both have been widely acclaimed and positively received.

Last week when Stone was announced as CEO of the entire estate, it brought more joy to all and sundry. It’s a huge task but this is a woman of “steel” who always strives for excellence. And with her zest to achieve the best, Desiree Stone will no doubt face the challenge head-on.

“I’m just delighted with the new position. I’m over the moon that my management style has impressed the board and I will do my best to keep Mount Edgecombe at the very top. It’s going to be a challenge but that’s what life is all about. I love challenges,” she said.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of each year there’s new equipment available and manufacturers, who continuously conduct tests, produce balls which travel further and have a “feel” that different players require.

Here are some:

■ Titleist: The ProV1 and Pro V1X balls are already accepted by all the professionals and thousands of amateurs. Now there’s the Titleist AVX, which has a really soft feel and has tested extremely well.

■ The Srixon Z-Star, a popular ball with many around the world, has been improved. There’s a new coating on the ball as well as a new dimple pattern. The ball is used by Ernie Els, among many others.

■ Bridgestone: They have a quality group of players using their golf balls, including Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar and Fred Couples. They have launched two new balls for 2019 – the E12 Speed and the E12 Soft. The Speed is the distance ball and the Soft is the perfect option for control and feel for the better player.

■ Callaway Chrome Soft: They have made big changes to this very popular golf ball. Firstly they have made the inner core larger to reduce spin on your longer shots. For the scoring shots they have added graphene to a dual soft core. The ball continues to have the soft feel.

■ Volvik, sponsor of the Long Drive Championship in the US, offer a host of colours plus the new Vivid XT AMT, the longest ball Volvik has produced. Volvik will continue to be a popular option, especially for those who like the coloured balls.