GOLFRSA SQUAD WATCH
Taking
CHARGE
Late starter Charl Barnard is in a hurry to go places
By Clinton van der Berg
There are several remarkable things to know about Charl Barnard, the South African Amateur champion. The most impressive might be that he embraced golf only after the Covid-19 pandemic. His subsequent rise has been stratospheric.
Another extraordinary fact is that he was offered a US college scholarship, tried it for several months and then walked away, saying, ‘Not for me, thanks.’
The other might be his insane competitive spirit. The prospect of losing fuels his drive, something that was true in his early days as a cricketer, and more so now that he determines his path in an individual sport. It borders on obsessive.
Barnard is among a formidable group of youngsters who have emerged from Centurion Country Club as fine prospects. It helps that he lives 300m from the club where coach Kyle Phelan works his magic.
Gallery below
It was only in his final year of school at St Albans, in 2023, that Barnard got serious about golf. A friend asked him about playing the Gauteng North tournament at his home club. One round of 64 excited him.
The next week he teed it up at the Nomads SA Boys Under-19 Championship at Pecanwood. Another 64, in the third round, helped him to a fifth-place finish. He was on his way.
Unlike others around him, his mind was made up. ‘There were a lot of doubters, my parents included,’ he says of his decision to pursue golf.
Then something unexpected occurred. Having played a US Kids event at Copperleaf in 2022, he’d been put in touch with an agency that helps prospective athletes get into US colleges.
‘It wasn’t really my dream, I was new to competitive golf. But everyone talks about it.’
He spoke to coaches at several US universities, finally opting for Southern Mississippi. But after his game picked up and he reminded himself that he had planned to go to the US only this year, he de-committed.
Best laid plans have a habit of going belly-up, however, and so it was last May that he took a call from East Tennessee State University offering a full scholarship and $6 000 per year.
CHIP SHOTS
Golfing hero: Jordan Spieth, especially in 2015 when he won everything.
Dream course:
St Andrews, which I’m blessed to be playing in June.
Best course you’ve played: It’s tight between Leopard Creek and the Fancourt Links.
Most memorable shot:
At the SA Amateur. It was funny with the caddies walking alongside and betting. It was my second 18 and I was 2 up through eight. I hit the drive into the bush. I hacked it out and needed to putt from 45m out for birdie, which I did to win the hole.
You can invite any three guests to dinner – who do you choose? Tiger Woods, Ronaldo and Jordan Spieth.
Biggest inspiration:
My dad Kobus. I’d love to have him watch me at a Major.
Last book you read?
Legacy, by James Kerr, about the All Blacks.
Favourite holiday spot:
San Lameer.
‘The environment here with my coach, practising with my friends, being comfortable and happy... in America I never had that’
Three months later he was a member of the Buccaneers. It was a short-lived foray into the world of college sport, though. Barnard didn’t enjoy the experience.
‘I see golf more as an individual sport,’ he explains. ‘They tend to make it a team sport there, and I like to decide when to play and when to practice. It was too much for me. One SA coach telling me what to do, another US coach telling me what to do. It was messing with my head.’
He left four months later. Even then, he was unsure whether he had made the right decision. He vacillated. He considered going back. His parents urged him to think carefully before sacrificing the chance to study towards a finance degree, for free.
He decided to stay at home. ‘A lot of people thought I made the wrong decision, it put pressure on me.’
Yet being in SA, he was back in his happy place. ‘The environment here with my coach, practising with my friends, being comfortable and happy... in America I never had that.’
Gallery below
His breakthrough year had come earlier in 2024 when he won the Nomads SA Boys Under-19 Championship, a pivotal victory that demonstrated his potential. Barnard then led SA to victory at the All-Africa Junior Team Championship.
His 2025 form validates his decision to return to South Africa. He began with victory at the Gauteng North Open in January, where he shot an impressive 18 under par, clinching the title with a final-round 65 at Waterkloof.
Later in January, Barnard competed at the GolfRSA International Amateur Championship at Royal Johannesburg. He fired a career-best nine-under 63, leading South Africa to a dominant team victory. Although he narrowly missed out on the individual title in a sudden-death playoff, his performance solidified his growing reputation.
And then in February, he achieved the biggest victory of his career by winning the SA Amateur Championship at Humewood, earning a spot at the Investec South African Open.
His game is more prosaic than pretty, his brother (and caddie) Louis saying to him, ‘You hit the fairways, hit the greens, the putts will fall.’
‘I can’t believe what’s happened in the past two years,’ Barnard recently told a friend. ‘I used to go to GolfRSA events and be so happy just to make the cut. It’s crazy how much has changed.’
THE CHAMPION
Barnard chats about his incredible win at the SA Amateur Championship at Humewood Golf Club.
ERNEST BLIGNAULT/GOLFRSA
