Patrick Lambie, who has been working in the property development industry with the Collins Group since injuries curtailed his professional rugby career, is based on KwaZulu-Natal's North Coast with his wife, Kate, and three sons, Samuel, Harry and Jackson. He says that, much like in the world of business, in the competitive golfing realm you are forever learning about both your strengths and weaknesses, and searching for ways to improve.

The former flyhalf, who played 56 Test matches for the Springboks from 2010 to 2016, underlines that more experience certainly helps in both fields, and when it comes to golf, he follows Gary Player's motto of: 'The harder I practice, the luckier I get'. Lambie says that his dad put a club in his hand at the age of four and thus he grew up playing the game.

In high school, golf took a backseat owing to a host of competing interests, but Lambie picked up the game again after school and during his rugby days.

'Golf allowed me to get my mind off rugby,' he says. 'I enjoy being out on the course and playing different courses in KZN once a month.'

The ex-Shark currently plays about three times a month off a 9.6 index, and has been as low as a seven. 'That was a career best for me, but I feel like I've been floating between a 9 and 10 index for the last couple of years and I haven't been able to play consistently enough to get it down to seven,' he says.

Lambie resides at Seaton Estate, Ballito but is handicapped at Bosch Hoek Golf Course which is his KZN favourite. The Lambies also spend time in the Drakensberg and enjoy Champagne Sports Resort. He describes Durban Country Club as 'spectacular', says Prince's Grant Golf Estate is 'always a test, especially if the wind blows' and is lucky to have the twin Zimbali courses right around the corner from him as both are 'fun to play'.

The 35-year-old mostly partakes in corporate golf days and enjoyed himself at the 2025 SuperSport Shootout. There he dovetailed well with ex-Springbok Coenie Oosthuizen, who plays off a similar handicap. Next up, Lambie couldn't wait to tee off at both the Gary Player Country Club and Lost City Golf Courses and celebrate the legacy of a true icon.

'Gary is a legend of a man, he always speaks with such passion and positivity and really makes you feel noticed,' says Lambie, who has already played in a handful of Gary and Vivienne Player Invitationals. 'At 90, it's incredible to see how fit, strong and healthy Gary is, and how he still makes his way around a golf course so effortlessly.'

Lambie reveals that he hasn't asked Player all that much about golf and, in turn, the three-time Masters winner hasn't had much to say about his swing. The pair are actually yet to play a round of golf together, but they have some family connections – through Player's children's spouses, whom the Lambies have ties with – so most of their conversations revolve around family, which Lambie describes as the most important thing in the world.

There is a suggestion that Player, who won nine regular Majors and completed the career Grand Slam in 1965, will go down as the greatest South African sportsman of all time. 'He's an inspiration,' says Lambie, 'and one of the greatest ambassadors for SA sport.'

Lambie, who is a brand ambassador for Slater Golf, currently has a mixed set of clubs in his bag. He has Ping irons and putter, a TaylorMade driver and 3-wood and a Titleist driving iron. He says the advance in technology speaks for itself because it shaved three or four shots off his handicap within the first six months of getting the new clubs.

The former No. 10, who is most famously remembered for his 55-metre match-winning penalty for the Springboks against the All Blacks during the 2014 Rugby Championship, reveals that he has been struggling with his driver over the last couple of years. As such, he has been utilising a chicken stick off the tee. 'My weakness would be getting the ball in play off the tee box and my strength would be striking it with my irons,' the former pivot says. 'And when it comes to both my chipping and putting, I'm pretty okay!'

SUNSHINE TOUR