WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
DES
TERBLANCHE
The latest in our popular series of catching up with household names from the Sunshine Tour of yesteryear
BY MIKE GREEN
The thing about the 65 Des Terblanche shot back in November 2009 was how easy he made the seven-under-par round look at Lost City. Five birdies and an eagle and the then 44-year-old had set himself up for a shot at a tournament title with a host of up-and-coming players in the field.
'I don't know whether the key to the round was relaxation,' he shrugged back then. 'Golf is one of those games I have never been able to figure out. There is no saying why on some days it's just so easy.'
As he sits in Harrismith now, a long way from what was his home in Kathu in the Northern Cape back then, he is still unable to figure it out.
He was born in Vryburg in 1965. When his mom and dad moved from their farm to the town and started playing golf regularly, Des would follow them around, hitting a ball behind them until he was hitting it past them. He then started playing with them.
His dad was the club captain at Vryburg Golf Club, and he would organise junior tournaments. By the age of 12, Des had started playing provincial junior tournaments and by 13 he represented Free State and Northern Cape under-19s.
Eventually, in 1983 at the age of 17, he won the World Junior Championship. Past boys' champions include Notah Begay III, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Craig Stadler, David Toms, Jason Day and Tiger Woods – who won six championships across the various age groups.
AS A PLAYER
In the amateurs he represented South Africa from 1980-83, in the 1983 Junior World Championship, and in 1985 he played for SA Under-23
He won 17 professional titles – 14 times on the Sunshine Tour, and three on the Asian PGA Tour
He reached a career high world ranking of 220 in January 2001
In terms of world ranking points, his best win came at the 1989 Bloemfontein Classic when he beat John Bland and Wayne Westner
The lowest round he shot on the Sunshine Tour was a 62 at the Wild Coast Sun in the 2001 Nashua Nedtel Celluar Masters where he finished T2nd
In total he teed up in 284 Sunshine Tour events, with 91 top-10 finishes and a best streak of 28 consecutive cuts
After that win, at the Transvaal Open, Terblanche was on golf leave from the army and first heard about this young kid Ernie Els from his friend Nico van Rensburg. Then he met this young kid in the play-off for that tournament – and he lost.
'That wasn't great,' he says. 'In those days he was a step ahead of us, not only in talent, but also in his mental approach. Ernie's perseverance and hard work is unbelievable. People think he is just the guy who had bucketloads of talent, but they don't realise how hard he worked. He has willpower of note and he's determined. It all happened very quickly for him. In about two years he became one of the top players in the world.'
They became good friends, and are still close to this day (see picture of "The East Rand Clan": Terblanche, Van Rensburg, Graeme Viljoen, Eben Kruger and Els). Els and Terblanche became partners in crime on a tour that was as renowned for its partying as it was for producing great players.
'In my day, the guy who could handle his hangover the best won the tournament'
Part of the fun of the tour was the places it visited. 'My favourite place was Phalaborwa,' remembers Terblanche. 'People made it special. Ernie's uncle had a game farm in Hoedspruit that we stayed at. The first night got out of hand and the farm manager was new, so he kicked us out. Poor Nico and his wife, plus my wife, had no idea why they were kicked out. Only Ernie and I knew, so it had to be fixed sooner rather than later. Ernie phoned his dad and he fixed it.'
Conviviality was something Terblanche became renowned for, and he would open up his home to staffers when the tour rolled into town for a tournament at Sishen. There was a memorable evening when he and his wife hosted a braai which featured Alan McLean and Doug McGuigan acting as chefs. It went on way too late given the early tee times the next day.
'There were a lot of braais,' he says, 'too many, to be honest. But those days were different. The game has changed. In my day, the guy who could handle his hangover the best won the tournament. Now you have personal trainers and sport psychologists.'
Through all the braais, and dealing with the phenomenal success of his friend Els, Terblanche still managed to carve out a successful career. His first professional title came two years after he turned professional, when he won the Railfreight Bloemfontein Classic by two shots from John Bland and Wayne Westner. His final titles came in the Royal Swazi Sun Open in 2003 and 2007. He beat Adilson Da Silva in a play-off in 2003 and he bested James Kamte by two strokes in 2007.
He also won three times on the Asian Tour – twice in 1997, and once in 2000.
In that tournament in 2009, he followed up that opening 65 with a 67, with just a single bogey on his card. He was still in the lead heading into the final round of the Nedbank Affinity Cup. But he was unable to hold things together in the final round, signing for a two-over-par 74 which included two doubles and a bogey. He finished in a share of fourth.
He played less and less on the tour after that. 'I play for fun now,' he says. 'I've moved to Harrismith where one of my daughters lives. The other lives in New Zealand which is not so nice.'
He dabbled for a while in sheep farming, but it was not what floated his boat. 'No more sheep now,' he says, 'because I spend so much of my time working my butt off babysitting!'
He was the very epitome of so many fans' idea of why it is a good idea to become a golf professional. There's no doubt that some opportunities passed him by because of the way he lived life, but his supporters wouldn't have wanted him to change. 'I should have done things a bit different but it is not in my nature,' he says.
PETRI OESCHGER | LUKE WALKER | ANDREW KAY | SUNSHINE TOUR | FACEBOOK.COM: ERNIE ELS
