Coastal town reeling after death of Wayne Westner

On a hot and humid Thursday lunchtime‚ the mood was sombre on the greens of the Lynton Golf Academy in Pennington on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.

The usually bustling academy was not teeming with patrons as per the norm during the December holidays‚ apart from a few ardent players teeing off lazily on the turf‚ one family tucking into their lunch at the coffee shop and another lunchtime group downing draft beer.

• Wife sees Westner kill himselfSouth African professional golfer David Frost and golfing great Ernie Els were among hundreds of people who were saddened when they heard that former pro golfer Wayne Westner had committed suicide at his home in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday morning. 

The solemn disposition bore testimony to the aftershocks still gripping the leafy seaside golf resort paradise following the suicide of renowned former professional golfer Wayne Westner on Wednesday morning.

Westner‚ "forced his way" into his own home and shot himself in front of his wife on Wednesday at 8am‚ according to KZN police.

The 55-year-old died from a gunshot wound to the right side of his head.

He has been described by locals as a "lekker" guy and was well-known and loved even by domestic workers in the neighbourhood.

"What a lekker oke‚" said a golfer who preferred to be called only by his first name‚ Neil.

Neil played many a rounds of golf with Westner over the past three years and said that he could not have met a "nicer person"‚ adding that the area was poorer without him.

"This place will never be the same. Every day he would be here in the sun and spending the whole day on the range teaching golf to people who came from as far as England and Ireland‚" said Neil.

Westner‚ who lived and taught golf in Ireland for almost a decade‚ is best known for his 1996 World Cup of Golf win‚ where he teamed up with Ernie Els. He also won the SA Open twice‚ and 12 other events across the globe during his five-year career. Westner eventually retired in 1998 due to injury.

"He was like a resident professional‚ a-go-to guy when you needed anything golf. He did some coaching and played a lot. He was famous here as the guy who invented his own swinging machine. He lived golf‚" he said.

Neil said Westner arrived in Pennington about three years ago with his wife Allison who ran a beauty salon. He quickly set up the academy and also marketed his Instant Golfer‚ a training machine that improves players’ swings

Tilly‚ who manages the coffee shop‚ said they were shattered by the incident.

"No he did not have a big heart‚ he had an extra large heart‚" she said.

"He was a deep thinker. The staff all around here knew him and he interacted well and respectfully with everyone. For him it was always about improving his golf swinging‚" said Tilly.

At his home at the Gwala Gwala Estate on Rahle Road‚ three of the four buzzers on the intercom pad at the gate went unanswered while the fourth one said they did not know the Westners.

A former domestic worker now working in Esperanza said she left after the couple had separated recently and didn't want to be interviewed.

However her sister‚ who also works in the same road‚ said they were "shocked" to hear about Westner's death.

SAPS spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane said on Wednesday: "An inquest was opened after a man allegedly shot himself in front of his wife at Pennington area".

Zwane said it was speculated that his wife was in the process of relocating to Johannesburg when Westner arrived at the estate and forced his way in. He said Westner was armed with a handgun and allegedly shot himself through the head in front of his wife. - TMG Digital/The Times