Darren Keet, who signed with newly promoted Durban City after playing for Cape Town City, is still passionate about golf and remains the top-ranked local footballer playing the sport.

The lanky goalkeeper, who began playing golf at the age of 16 with his friends in high school, only started playing the game more often when he moved back to Johannesburg in 2016 for his second stint with now defunct Bidvest Wits Football Club.

Having played for Cape Town City from 2021 to 2025, Keet is now based in Umhlanga and has joined Mount Edgecombe Country Club. At some stage he says he will touch base with former Bafana Bafana captain Neil Tovey, an avid golfer and a native of those parts.

‘When the pressure hits in golf, you have to double down. Sometimes you really have to risk it rather than play it safe’

‘I haven’t actually spoken to Neil yet but I know he is a member at Mount Edgecombe because myself and Gavin Hunt have played once or twice together, and Huntie uses Neil’s golf cart whenever it’s available,’ he says. ‘I have no idea about Neil’s game because I’ve never played with him but Gavin is actually a pretty good golfer.’

Keet says the veteran football coach plays off a seven handicap but his game belies his ranking. Nevertheless, with new clubs and shafts in his bag, Hunt seems to be getting in his excuses early, having told Keet it will take a few rounds to get into it.

In terms of favourite local courses, Keet loves Dainfern Golf Estate as he once lived there. He lists Houghton Golf Club as a treat and can’t wait to see what they’re going to do with The Club at Steyn City, with LIV’s first African event teeing off next March.

Keet says the pressures of being a professional goalkeeper compared to teeing it up on the greens are different. ‘As a goalkeeper, when you start getting into a bit of trouble you don’t take risks. You either get the ball up-field for the strikers to deal with it or you hoof the ball into row Z,’ he says. ‘Whereas, when the pressure hits in golf, you have to double down. Sometimes you really have to risk it rather than play it safe.’

Gallery below

Keet stands at 1.83m tall but says he hasn’t been fitted with custom clubs. ‘With my fitting, I use the standard shaft because my arms are long and my wingspan is 1.93m.’

In terms of golf clubs, Keet used to be sponsored by Puma and would get Cobra clubs at a discounted rate. He says he has been using the Cobra brand ever since and was recently fitted with some nice new clubs. But as a creature of habit, he still relies on his trusty Cobra King F7 driver, which came out in 2017, for his long game.

Keet may have played most of his golf with Dean Furman, Bradley Grobler and James Keene during his twin spells at Bidvest Wits but he says they aren’t his dream fourball.

‘No, I don’t want to play with them,’ he says with a smile. ‘James once walked off the course after six holes because he was having a bad day. He was playing off a good six handicap but on that day he started off terribly and after just six holes, he called it quits!’

Having represented the national team from 2013 to 2020, Keet says it was only himself and Furman who were the golfers in the side and they actually found themselves in hot water once for their dedication to chasing that little white ball around.

‘Without naming names, myself and Dean got into trouble with the national team coach for wanting to play golf while we were in camp,’ he says. ‘It was literally only myself and Dean who were golfers, so I would say I was the best Bafana golfer and he was the worst.’

With an index of 1.9, Keet continues to question why he has never been invited to the SuperSport Shootout. ‘I don’t know why, but I’ve never cracked an invite. It seems the event is more for the retired okes so maybe they are waiting for me to retire?’ he quips.

Keet has played with ex-footballers Shaun Bartlett and Stanton Fredericks a few times and lists them as competent golfers. ‘Shaun is pretty good and can turn it on. He hits a long ball and has got all the shots but, like most of us, he doesn't have the consistency.’

supplied/darren keet