This versatile Sunshine Tour pro is relishing the chance to make the most of what feels like a second career opportunity 

Christiaan Maas’ all-encompassing love for the game is also to the benefit of those who have the privilege of watching him
play  

BY MICHAEL VLISMAS 

I actually thought: 'Jeepers, shouldn't you maybe start thinking about something.' It was like I was on cruise control. Everything just felt easy'

'I would love to become a top-50 golfer in the world and compete in the Majors. Not for the fame and fortune, but for the life skills. I think what those top players experience and go through brings life skills on a whole different level. That's what I'm chasing.'

Viljoen is certainly used to chasing highs in life – in a literal sense as well.

Growing up in Bloemfontein, before golf became the focus, his dream was to be a pilot and fly fighter jets for the Royal Air Force.

'There was a time in my life when I wanted to be a pilot for a living. I am a qualified pilot. My dad got his pilot's licence at the age of 50, and we fly together now. But as the golf started to show itself and I made certain teams, I put the flying to one side.'

Rugby and cricket also started to fall by the wayside as Viljoen narrowed his focus on golf.

'I played a bit of rugby in Grade 1 and 2. I also tried cricket. But I always just seemed to come back to the golf course. After school my dad and I would go to the golf course and I'd be there with him until as late as 9pm, and then we'd go home.'

And it all seems to have aligned to bring him to this point in his life and career where, perhaps for the first time, he has the most clarity about what he wants from the game.

'About three years ago I just didn't enjoy the game. My mom advised me to go and see a sports psychologist. We grew up around sport, but not at that level where you had access to or thought about things like sports psychologists. So at first I thought it was nonsense. But then I was really starting to lose my love for the game. I met sports psychologist Shaun Landsberg, and he put me on a path that actually shocked me when I look at where I was before that. It just made me a whole lot calmer about the game. Then you have a child and you also realise you worry about so many unnecessary things on the golf course. There is a lot more off the course to worry about.

'Hendrik Buhrmann is also a big mentor of mine and he's very clued up about the mental side of the game. I've learnt a lot from both of them about how the brain affects performance. And it becomes this recipe that you can follow and you will get results. That's brought me a lot of peace in the game. You're inclined to think way too much on the golf course. But during that victory at Zebula, there was a point where I was so clear-minded that I actually thought: 'Jeepers, shouldn't you maybe start thinking about something.' It was like I was on cruise control. Everything just felt easy.'

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