Tel: 013 492 0106

Fax: 086 710 8009

Email: golf@bankenveld.co.za

Directors:

E van Wyk TRP(SA)

M van Wyk CA(SA)

Pos tnet Su i te 1234

Pr iva te Bag X7279

W itbank 1035

45 Silwer Avenue

Bankenveld

eMalahleni (Witbank)

The Golf Club

Bankenveld (Pty) Ltd

Reg. No: 2007/006934/07

NEWSLETTER #2

February 2017

Dearest Member,

Rain, rain, and more rain! In January and February we were blessed with

±65mm and ±200 of rain and from October we had ±585mm.

The timing of the rain was this year perfect, just after the hollow tyning and

before the Club Champs.

The term: “weather permitting” got new meaning to our golfers.

1. IMPORTANT DATES

We also wish to remind members of the following important dates:

March 4th Windhoek Pairs

March 11th & 12

th Ningi Club Championship

March 21st 4’Somes from 4 Tees

March 23rd

A.G.M.

April 27th Battle of Bankenveld

2. CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

Our Ningi Services Club Champs is one of two main golfing events on our

annual fixtures list. We are proud to be associated with Mack & Elmarie

Lotter and their team from Ningi Services. Thanks for the generous

sponsorship, Mack!!!!

The entries for the Club Championship close on Tuesday, 7th March. The

club will have only 16 golf carts available for rental during the weekend.

We also have to limit the number of entries to 60 players. The draw will be

done on Wednesday, 9th March.

Players in Divisions A (9 and lower handicap) & B (handicap 10 -18) will

play medal, and players in Division C (handicap 19 and higher) will play

I.P.S.

Entry fee is R250 per player for the weekend and the cart rental at R150

per player sharing. We call on all players with their own carts to use them

during the weekend and to share with players who do not have their own

cart.

We maintain that a well organised Club Championship, with good prizes,

on a challenging golf course, in excellent condition must be one of the

reasons “WHY” you are a member at Bankenveld Golf Club.

3. AGM

Please take note that the Annual General Meeting takes place on

Thursday, March 23rd

2017 at 18h00 at Primi.

4. HOW TO PREPARE TO PLAY A GOLF TOURNAMENT

(By Doug Wade, PGA)

Almost all of us who play golf regularly or even occasionally have been in

a competitive environment when it comes to the game of golf. Whether it's

your Club Championship, Member Guest, corporate outing or even just

your regular Sunday Nassau game, nervousness or anxiousness or even

self doubt may not be very far behind. For many, these feelings are a

major reason people don't continue playing golf. Golf seems to take more

time than most sports to get a good grasp of how to hit the ball, or even

how to act on a golf course. People are afraid to get in an environment

where they and their game are exposed for all to see.

So the question becomes how do I control these emotions so that I can

play to the best of my ability? As a former college and mini tour player, I,

as much as anybody, know how much being able to play every day with

continuous reputation can help with your game, and most importantly,

your confidence. But most of us are not in a position in our lives where

playing every day is a possibility. I am now an assistant golf professional

at Western Hills Country Club in Cincinnati, where along with loving my

job and the people around me, my main focus on a daily basis is making

sure my members are happy and that we as a staff are all ready for the

events we will be putting on for them in the near future. But one thing is

for sure; I have not lost my love of competitive play and look forward to

my own upcoming tournament, whenever that may be. One of my goals

each and every day is to make sure I have a club in my hand for at least

ten minutes. It doesn't sound like much but even if I can hit balls, putt, or

even swinging in a mirror for just a few minutes, mentally I feel that I still

have the touch. Now while I realize that most of you aren't going to do

this, just grabbing a club and swing it for a few minutes whenever

possible can make a huge difference on the mental side of the game for

you. Jack Nicklaus once said, "The difference between being nervous and

scared is being prepared." When you do show up for that next important

round you will feel like you've done just that little more than the next guy.

As for when you show up on the day of the event, there a few things that

you can do to try and squash that self doubt. While nothing is more

important than preparing BEFORE you show up that day, getting there

early enough to hit a few of the different shots you'll face that day can be

very reassuring. My routine warming up for a tournament goes like this:

Show up a good hour beforehand. First thing I do is go directly to the

putting green and hit a lot of long putts to try and establish a feel of the

greens. During this first session, I try not to hit any short putts because I

don't want to see anything miss quite yet! After about fifteen minutes, it's

on to the driving range where I work through the bag starting with the lob

wedge and hitting a few with every other club. What I would highly

recommend doing when you're warming up is to try and get yourself

nervous. I know this sound odd, but try and visualize a few shots from the

course and think to yourself "this shot counts". This not only will give you

a better idea how you're hitting it that day, but when you get to that

particular shot on the course, it will feel a little easier since you've already

hit it. Almost all golfers, when they get under some pressure, tend to

speed up their swing and get too quick, so while you're warming up, really

focus on that tempo and balance. When you finally work up to that driver,

make sure you hit a few shots envisioning you're on that first tee. It will

make a big difference when you finally stand up there. After I'm done,

warming up, it's to the chipping area for a few bunker and chip shots, then

back to the putting green where I try and see as many 4 footers go in as I

can.

Going through a routine like this will only make you feel more prepared

when you’re big round starts but nothing is going to cure you of all your

nerves. I try to remember that being nervous is why I play the game. I try

to embrace being in a position where my shots mean something, and

even though it's easier said than done, this is the kind of attitude you need

to find before you step on that first tee. After all, golf is a game, it's meant

to be fun, it's not life and death, so don't be afraid of failure and believe in

your abilities. And remember, the guy standing next to you is going

through the same emotions you are!!

5. OUR SINCEREST CONDOLENCES

Our sincerest condolences go to the family of Douw van der Merwe who

passed away on February 9th from a heart attack. He was the landscape

architect who designed and supervised the construction of our golf

course.

Douw also designed the following courses: Eagle Canyon, Coro Creek,

Legends, Jackal Creek, Mt Edgecome (2), etc.

Douw played his last round of golf at Bankenveld in November 2016.

6. BIRDS OF A FEATHER ....

Our feature local bird of the month is the mocking chat, mocking cliff

chat or cliff chat, (bergwagter) (Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris) is a

species of chat in the family Muscicapidae which occurs in rocky habitats

in much of eastern Sub-Saharan Africa.

Female Male

Description

The mocking cliff chat is a large chat with distinctive colouration. The male is glossy black with chestnut belly, vent and rump and white shoulder patches. The shoulder patches vary in size geographically. The female is dark grey with chestnut, lower breast belly and vent. They have a length of 19–21cm and weigh 41–51g.

Voice

A loud fluty melodious warbling song which often contains many rapid fire phrases mimicking other species, with some harsher phrases interspersed.

Distribution and movements

The mocking cliff chat occurs in a neat band from central Ethiopia in the north through east Africa into Zimbabwe, south-eastern Botswana, southern Mozambique and eastern South Africa as far as the far east of Western Cape province. Mostly resident but in the south of its range tends to move to lower altitudes in the winter months.

Habitat

The mocking cliff chat inhabits rocky and boulder strewn areas, well-wooded rocky ravines, cliffs, gullies, boulder-strewn hillsides and watercourses in valley bottoms with scattered rocks.

Habits

The mocking cliff chat is mainly insectivorous but also eats fruit and feeds on the nectar of aloes, such as the Krantz aloe Aloe arborescens. It chief foraging technique is to pounce on food on the ground from a perch bit it will also glean food from branches and foliage. The habitually wag their tails, slowly raising over their backs and fanning it out.

Both sexes build the nest, taking about a week to construct an open cup built over a foundation of twigs, leaves, roots and feathers and lined with the hair of mammals. They often use the nests of striped swallows frequently evicting the swallows while they are still using the nest. The nest is usually positioned below a rock overhang, bridge, culvert or in a cave and it may sometimes be placed in a hole in a wall or in a cavity in agricultural machinery. In southern Africa the eggs are laid from August–December, with a peak during September–November. The normal clutch size is 2-4 eggs, which the females incubate for about 14–16 days. Both parents feed the chicks which fledge at about three weeks old.

7. EDWIN’S TIP OF THE MONTH: Full Swing Tips: More Power To complete a powerful golf swing, you need to create energy in the backswing, store it on the way down and release it on the way through. Most golfers are able to generate a lot of swing speed, but they have it in the wrong place in their swing – not at impact, where it is required. If you look at the pros, you will notice how smoothly their swings start, as they build up power at impact without losing any energy on the way. Throughout my years coaching golf, I’ve found that certain power leaks are common to golfers and contribute to the player losing valuable club head speed and power. Here’s how to identify and fix the three most common power leaks.

This is how it is done

This is not how it is done

More Power: The hip slide

One very common problem for ammies is the hip slide, where players move their hips laterally in the backswing instead of rotating them. Often, this is caused by a simple fault in the set-up, where the right hip (for right-handed golfers) is too high.

Think about it – since the right hand is lower than the left on the grip, it follows that the whole of the right side should be lower than the left. In the sequence of pictures, this is demonstrated by the angle of the hoop. If the right hip is high at ad- dress, a common result is for it to slide to the side, blocking the correct turn. The downswing then becomes an over-the-top hack at the ball, which is clearly not going to help with power or control. If the hips are set up correctly at address, the right hip can turn around the corner. This allows a full shoulder turn and a balanced, coiled position at the top, which produces more power and puts you in a good, loaded position to hit more accurately. Check your set-up in a mirror to make sure you have the left hip (and shoulder) higher than the right, and concentrate on maintaining it throughout the swing.

8. BANKENVELD CRICKET CLUB

Bankenveld Cricket Club has finished 4th in the promotion league in their

20/20 league. They did however win 5 of their 6 matches but

unfortunately rain intervened in their other 4 matches.

They are currently playing in the 40 over league and have won 2 out of

their first 3 matches. The 3rd

match did unfortunately rain out this past

weekend.

Results of their last match against Middelburg Old Boys Club:

Best bowler - Kepler Prinsloo 3 – 44 in 8 overs

- Dannial Steenkamp 4 – 32 in 6 overs

Best Batsmen - Alex Reyneders with 36 not out

- Our very own Mauritz Dewing with 28

9. LEAGUE NEWS

The Nett League started on January 28th and we have five teams taking

part, namely:

Spring Chickens A Kriel (away) Won 8-0

Walker Park (home) Won 8-0

Spring Chickens B Witbank (home) Lost 2-6

Toppies

Walker Park (away) Won 4-2

Delmas (away) Won 4-2

Middelburg (away) Lost 6-0

Coffin Dodgers Witbank (away) Lost 2-4

Walker Park (home) Won 4-2

Ladies A Witbank (home) Won 4-0

Ladies B Middelburg (home) Draw 2-2

10. CONGRATULATIONS

The second African Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek from 28

February to 3 March will be a significant occasion for Marie Venter and

her family.

Grandson Albert Venter, the defending champion, who will wear the

national blazer (Protea) for the first time.

The South African Golf Association (SAGA) named Venter – along with

Aubrey Beckley, Kyle McClatchie and Marco Steyn – to the Senior Team

that will represent South Africa.

Congratulations and we are also proud on your behalf.

11. WINDHOEK PAIRS

The Windhoek Pairs will be played on Saturday, March 4th. Become one

of the qualifying pairs to participate in the Windhoek Lager International

Pairs SA Fnal to be held in Namibia. The winning pairs will represent

South Africa at the World International Pairs final in Spain, all expenses

paid.

You could also qualify to play in the Windhoek Lager Africa Jacket Golf

Championship Final in Namibia, and compete against qualifiers from

across Africa.

12. NEW MEMBERS

We welcome the following persons as new members to the Club and wish

him an enjoyable golfing experience and social interaction here:

Christo Snyman Kobie du Plessis

Chris Hartman Samuel Ntuli

Iaan Roos Devon Lloyd Strydom

Bertie van Blerk Corne van der Nest

Andre van der Walt

The Monthly Medal, held on Saturday, February 25th, were rain interrupted

and only 15 players were able to complete the 18 holes. The results were as

follows:

Category Name Score

Gross Winner Christo Snyman 75

Net Winner Tyrone Smith 71

Division A-Winner Theo Uys 77

Division A- Runner Erasmus Heyns 85

Division B- Winner Francois Jacobs 71

Division B- Runner Martin Gerber 72

Division C- Winner Riaan van Jaarsveld 81

Division C- Runner Eric Breedt 96

Nearest to pin Tyrone Smith

Nearest to pin Theo Uys

The lucky draw took place during the prize-giving. Armand van Wyk was our

lucky draw winner, but he was unfortunately not present. The lucky draw for

March will take place at prize-giving on March 25th, and the amount to be

won will be R1,500-00.

We hope to see many of our members at the Club Champs.

Regards,

Eben van Wyk

083 275 4753 E-mail: ilze@bankenveld.co.za P.O. Box 51074, Bankenveld, 1035