SA golf’s ‘new’ winners look to fly and drive after escaping qualifying pressure

Pieter Moolman, who has chosen to tee it up at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in Scotland this week instead of defending his Fortress Invitational crown in Johannesburg, enjoys driving at high speeds.

The self-confessed petrolhead does drag-racing in his spare time and admits performing behind the wheel of his souped-up Audi S3 can be easier than on the tee box.

“At least the driving in a car is consistent,” said Moolman, who focuses on the quarter-mile races where he can hit around 230km/h.

“There’s not a lot of weather factors involved.”

The 32-year-old scored his maiden — and so far only — professional victory at Ebotse Links last year to boost his confidence in a competitive field.

“It’s a brutal game. In this sport I almost feel like there's more downs than ups because if you don't win, you don't feel like you've played your best. When golf is hard, it's not a very fun sport to play.”

Moolman’s been working hard trying to improve his chipping, struggling especially on Challenge Tour events abroad where he encounters different types of grass.

Rupert Kaminski, on the other hand, who goes into the Fortress at Glendower fresh from his first pro triumph in the PGA Championship at St Francis last month, said chipping is one of the better aspects of his game.

“A couple of friends call me Rupert 'Chip-in-ski',” said the golfer from Parkview club, which, not having a full-time driving range, has forced him to spend more time on the chipping and putting greens.

His win last month has come with bonuses and a huge relief.

“It kind of frees me up. The exemptions and whatnot that come with winning are amazing,” added Kaminski, who turns 27 on Thursday.

The pressure of trying to qualify for tournaments used to weight heavily.

“It comes with quite a bit of anxiety because it's your job so you don't know whether you're going to be playing.

“When you're living week by week like that and having to qualify into everything, it's really, really difficult. And when you do qualify you then have to wrap your head around the fact that the job’s not done,” said Kaminski, who turned pro in the US where he was at college.

Luca Filippi, who took his first win at the Bain’s Whisky Ubunye Championship in August, said playing in qualifying tournaments made for long weeks.

“If you qualify you've got to play a practice round,” said the 24-year-old, who moved from the Cape to Johannesburg to work on his game.

“You’ve got to drive to the course to play a practice round on the same day or the next day and it t becomes an exhausting week because other people are starting their prep on Monday at the golf course and you’re trying to still get into the tournament.

“To practice in the wind every day and to try to adapt your golf swing to a 30km/h wind, a 60km/h wind every day is not going to improve my game.”

Like Moolman, Filippi will be teeing it up at the Alfred Dunhill.