Sphiwe Masilela
He is only six years old and he’s setting the world of golf on fire beyond the shores of Africa.
Vezokuhle Ngcobo from Ekangala outside Bronkhorstspruit east of Tshwane, who is known as the Lion of Africa because of his long drives, said he was introduced to golf by his father who is also his coach and served as his caddy.
Ngcobo was supposed to go to the USA and Canada in March after he qualified to represent Africa in his age group, but the lockdown ended those plans.
Speaking through his father, Ngcobo said he knows he will get another opportunity.
“He is a hopeful and optimistic boy. I teach him that if it’s supposed to be, it will happen,” said Ngcobo senior.
He said the future looks bright for his son who has won five awards since lockdown’s alert level five.
The young man said he looks up to the likes of Tiger Woods and hopes he can reach that level.
Ngcobo senior quit his day-job to train his son.
“I was in the military for seven years. When I introduced him to the game, he immediately loved it. I also love the game so his mom and I decided that I should quit my job to focus on him,” he said.
The father reckons it’s a blessing in disguise that the youngster was pulled out of Bronkhorstspruit Primary school due to the pandemic.
“He plays a lot of tournaments and this could have affected his marks, but we’re planning to take him for home-schooling to make sure he doesn’t lose sight of his schoolwork,” he said.
Ngcobo said he played other sports such as football.
“But I want to be known internationally as the best golfer to ever come out of South Africa,” said Ngcobo after clinching the South African Kids’ Golf tournament’s first prize – beating the second-placed winner by seven shots.
