The golfer also shares his view on fracking and designing courses for China.
JOHANNESBURG – Golfing legend Gary Player has attributed the poor performance of many of South Africa’s golfing estates to “an accumulation of mismanagement”.
Speaking to Moneyweb from his Colesberg farm in the Karoo in the Western Cape, Player said while the global economic crisis was the main cause of estates struggling, a number of errors were made in the original planning and design of some of these residential manors.
Firstly, the courses are too difficult. He said there was room for tough courses to cater for competitions, but not for leisure: “If it’s not for a championship the last thing you should do is get an architect in to come and make it tough.”
Player, who is passionate about water conservation, says difficult courses require more water: “I don’t think anyone should be given rights to a golf course, from now on, unless they’re going to use the sewerage water, the effluent water.
“I’m a farmer, I deal with water every day of my life. And I’m a golf course designer and that’s the first thing I bring up when they want me to design a golf course. I bring up the water situation.”
He also took a swipe at Shell SA that has applied for permission to explore the ecologically sensitive Karoo region for shale gas through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as it is more commonly known. Fracking is a high-pressure process whereby shale rock deep underground is fractured using millions of litres of water, chemicals and sand to allow the methane gas to escape.
Player said the Karoo’s water quality was among the best in the world. “And then you have Shell company wanting to come to the Karoo and do fracking,” whereas many countries had disallowed the process. In April last year Cabinet placed a moratorium on the exploration until a task team had completed a report on the issue.
Returning to golf estates in South Africa, Player said another mistake made was that courses were too long. Bigger courses meant higher maintenance and other costs which filtered down to members being charged a levy.
Some find themselves in financial trouble and having to bail out. “So, it’s an accumulation of mismanagement.” Player proposed that courses should consist of 12 holes as opposed to the traditional 18-hole course as many players simply did not have the time for the longer developments.
Player and his company Gary Player Design are currently involved in a number of projects overseas, including China, India, Montenegro, Cyprus and Morocco.
Asked to elaborate on developments in China, Player said that country understands the value of good publicity generated through sport. “Of all other sports in the world, golf helps tourism more than any other … by a mile.” Interest in the sport was also likely to increase now that it had been admitted to the Olympic Games. India, he said, was also trying to encourage its youth to play golf.
Besides his golfing skills, Player is also an astute businessman. Earlier this year, Black Knight International, a global holding company for the Player Group, launched a new line of the Gary Player Collection offering men and women’s golf apparel.
Player, who turns 77 this year, goes by several names: the Black Knight, Mr Fitness and the International Ambassador of Golf. He says his schedule is still hectic: “I travel seven months of the year – extensively. I’m still extremely busy and I still do 1000 sit-ups four times a week and I keep in good shape.”
He has always been a proponent of a healthy lifestyle, saying he is 75% vegetarian, cuts out fats and limits his protein intake.
“I am obsessed about how poorly people in the Western world eat.” The youth, he said, was not being educated about healthy eating habits and exercise, adding obesity was worrisome. Source: Moneyweb
