DEREK JAMES
● ● ● I turn 65 this year but won’t be retir- ing any time soon. Although we work long hours, which can be draining, at times exhausting, there is scope for do- ing things differently. I will continue teaching for as long as I remain healthy. I am teaching more than ever and am fully booked for months ahead, which is nice as I do enjoy it. ● ● ● Being PGA Teaching Pro of the Year more than once while based at a club without a range made me realise the importance of the short game. It is the backbone of golf and I love teaching short game skills. I am happiest when out on the course, playing with mem- bers, giving a playing lesson, or getting my hands dirty with anything to do with improving the quality and playability of our wonderful course. ● ● ● I have coached several tour pros, including Brandon Stone, Jaco van Zyl, Jacques Blaauw, Richard Sterne, Hennie Otto and Keith Horne. I enjoyed working with Stone at a time when he was win- ning tournaments. The better the golfer one teaches, the harder it is. It’s easy to teach a 24-handicap and reduce that, but to get someone who is a plus 3 to plus 6 takes time and trust. Top golfers are fickle about their coaches and switch from one to another. I have always felt “snookered by distance” based at South- broom, as it is out of the way. Some pros have suggested I should go back on tour and coach, but being away from home is why I gave up that life. ● ● ● I have been playing an active role in enhancing the condition, design and playability of the course, another way in which I can express my passion for the game. I meet with our greenkeeper vir- tually every day and work closely with Matko Turf who carry out any upgrade work. I have hardly played golf myself in the past couple of years. I always seem to have so much else to do. ● ● ● Southbroom is not a championship layout. It’s not intended to be. It’s where people enjoy golf and many a golfer has had their best score at Southbroom. Golf Digest SA, in its December 2012 edition, ranked Southbroom as SA’s “Number 1 Fun Course.” That’s quite an accolade,
I became a PGA Master Professional in 2018 – it is awarded to members who have maintained the highest degree of excellence in the participation, promo- tion, growth and development of the game and who continue to make a sig- nificant effort to improve themselves, their skills and education as golf pro- fessionals. I see “making a difference” as key to being considered for Master Professional status. I am honoured to be in the company of former tour players Denis Hutchinson, Dale Hayes, Cobie Legrange and Gavan Levenson, all of whom have made a difference. Awards I have won from the PGA are a constant reminder I must be doing something right and all the hard work has been worthwhile. ● ● ● I tackled the new challenge at Southbroom with energy and en- thusiasm, cutting myself off from tour- nament golf and concentrating 100% on making a success of being a club pro. We have created something special at the club. We have a great team in the pro shop. Sheena is my business part- ner and pretty much runs the shop with excellent support from Dane Adendorff and Beauty Ncungama, both working with us for many years. Thanks to them we have been voted the top pro shop in the country the past four years.
It opened the door to a new career at Southbroom where I took over the pro shop from Arnold Mentz. Sheena and I have been here 28 years. Friends told me Southbroom was for old people, and I wouldn’t last six months. We first rent- ed, but it wasn’t long before we bought a house. Raising our family in a tranquil environment was special. Southbroom is an active, vibrant community with its own ratepayers’ association, conser- vancy committee, business owners and volunteer gardeners who work together for the common good. Its residents are a blend of retirees and young families, and the popularity of the village is in no small measure due to the success of the golf club. The contribution Sheena and I have made to the club has benefitted the local business community. We have made Southbroom a better place to live and work. ● ● ● Given the club pro position without being a qualified PGA professional upset some people. My pal Freddie Beaver, club pro at Wild Coast, encour- aged me to qualify, which I did after being given credits for my 14 years as a touring pro, and completing a teaching course under Steve Cottingham. I was PGA Club Professional of the Year for the first time in 2001, which says a lot. ● ● ●
Above: Murray Leyden, centre, with Mark McNulty (left) and Derek James in the Southbroom pro shop. Opposite page: Derek James on the fourth tee at Southbroom Golf Club.
100 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MARCH/APRIL 2025
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator