Gqeberha students in search of Holy Grail at USSA golf champs

Madibaz golfer Lumkile Mantshiyo is eager to make an impact when he competes in the University Sport SA tournament starting at the Bloemfontein Golf Club on December 2.

The Madibaz men’s golf team aims to complete unfinished business in the matchplay when they tee off in the University Sports South Africa tournament on Monday.

Mandela University will field two teams in the five-day event that takes place at the Bloemfontein Golf Club.

A year ago, the A-team struck a rich vein of form in Makhanda where JP van der Watt, Tiaan Tibshraeny and Lumkile Mantshiyo finished joint leaders in the strokeplay.

Van der Watt went on to take the title when he birdied the first playoff hole, while their efforts also earned them the team title in the discipline.

Despite their domination of the strokeplay, they were knocked out of the matchplay in the semifinals and had to settle for bronze.

Even though they would be without the services of the graduated Van der Watt, Mantshiyo said they were eager to go one step further in the competition.

The 23-year-old is confident that they can enter the conversation of title contenders, which include tough opponents such as Tuks, the BSI Golf Academy from Johannesburg and UCT.

Zane Griesel, who comes in for Van der Watt, will tee off alongside Mantshiyo, Tibshraeny and Wian van Aswegen, the fourth member of the 2023 line-up.

“We have played a lot of golf together over the past year and have a great relationship with each other, so we are pretty confident we can do well again,” second-year accountancy student Mantshiyo said.

“We will take motivation and confidence from last year because, although we had a good team on paper, it’s important that you achieve results out on the course.”

While not downplaying their 2023 strokeplay success, Mantshiyo said the matchplay team title loomed as their Holy Grail.

Even after a swing change this year, he felt he could add real value after a further year’s experience.

“I just felt I was consistently making too many mistakes and that led to me going through the process of rebuilding my swing, which can take some time,” explained the plus-two handicapper.

“I am very happy with the way I have come through that and the way I have adapted to it.”

Mantshiyo said it made his swing more reliable in stressful situations and especially in national events.

“I think having played under that sort of pressure against some of the country’s top amateurs has helped me prepare mentally for the USSAs.”

Apart from changing his swing, he has also worked hard on other areas of his game.

“It is essential to keep practising the drills of putting and chipping so that your overall game does not suffer,” he said.

The team will play a practice round on Sunday to fine-tune their game and acclimatise to the altitude ahead of the week.

“There is a change in distances and I have worked out that it’s about a club less than conditions at the coast,” Mantshiyo explained.

“For example, if I hit a nine-iron 140 metres at the coast, I know that I must hit a pitching wedge at altitude. But we have all played under those conditions so I am confident we can make the necessary adjustments.”

MADIBAZ TEAMS WITH HANDICAPS:

Madibaz A: Tiaan Tibshraeny (+4.4), Zane Griesel (+3), Lumkile Mantshiyo (+2), Wian van Aswegen (+0.9).

Madibaz B: Michael McLean (2), Joshua van Vuuren (+1.6), Justin Grieb (3.6), Liam Morton (3.6).