Rain ensures Randpark courses are still looking green and lovely in mid-winter

It’s the middle of winter and instead of Randpark’s two courses looking dusty and brown, which is what usually is the case at this time of the year, they are still beautifully green, picture-perfect and a joy to play.

This, no doubt, as Firethorn Course Superintendent Fanie Bester points out, is because of the huge amount of rain – 1117ml – that has fallen at the club since September last year.
“We’ve even had 7ml in June which is pretty much unheard of, and there hasn’t been much frost,” he says.

Fanie joined long-time Head Superintendent Roger Innes – who looks after Bushwillow and is currently on leave – at Randpark two Septembers back and is loving it at the club.

“Before coming here I worked at golf estates where the estate came before golf but here at Randpark, golf comes first which is great and how it should be,” adds the 53-year-old who, typically, is at the club at 5 am every day with the rest of the course staff.

Fanie plays a pretty good game of golf himself off a three handicap and in 2021 and 2022 represented North West in the Senior Interprovincial.

Thanks to Roger and Fanie and their team, and helped by the rain of course, it seems us golfers can’t get enough of Randpark and in the last financial year, there were close to 105 000 rounds played.

Written by Randpark member Grant Winter
Photo: Randpark veterans Jan Schutte and Jurie van der Nest enjoying green and lovely Bushwillow