MY OTHER LOVE
work
In
Progress
This two-time World Cup winner with the Springboks has had the golf bug bite even harder since a serious injury curtailed his rugby career
BY GRANT SHUB
Steven Kitshoff was like most South African youngsters. Brought up on a diet of rugby and cricket, he enjoyed both at school but went on to choose rugby and excelled, playing 83 Tests for South Africa from 2016 to 2023 in the unforgiving front row of the scrum.
It was only after school that golf really piqued his interest. The prop was invited to Stormers' golf days but was always a bit nervous to take part because he wasn't sure how it would go. As he started playing with his teammates, he was soon hooked and the 34-year-old actively tried to become better at the game.
While Kitshoff is now running a number of businesses, has a podcast with actor and producer Josh Eady and is a pundit on SuperSport, he tries to play a round at least once a week.
'My current index is a 10.6 but I won't say I'm constantly at that mark,' he said, ahead of the NTT Data Pro-Am at Fancourt. 'My golf is still very up and down, but I can see an improvement.'
In the infancy of his golfing exploits, Kitshoff says he was over the top and tried to overpower everything. Over time, and with his body taking a number of knocks from rugby, he since slowed everything down. 'The more stiff I was from rugby, the better my swing would go, and I started hitting it a bit straighter.'
The mountain of a man, who is sponsored by Callaway, says that he has never been a guy that hits the ball a mile, but is now fairly accurate off the tee box.
TWO-PUTT
How did it all start for you? 'I started playing in my first year of university because all the guys in the rugby team played; I felt a bit left out. I started off very badly and shot a couple of hundreds, but I worked my way up and improved from there.'
What's more nerve-wracking, the first tee at the Gary & Vivienne Player Invitational or playing in front of a capacity stadium in the Rugby World Cup final? 'Definitely the 1st tee – 100 percent. The first time I teed up I was a bit shaky. I snap-hooked it into the bushes and I picked up after that. It's much more nerve-racking playing golf in front of people than rugby. Playing in front of 10 people on a golf course and playing in front of 50 000 people in a rugby stadium, I'm far more nervous with the golf.'
In terms of clubs, Kitshoff still has the Paradyms in his bag and he has been a member of De Zalze Golf Estate ever since his Stormers days. He is also an honorary member at the Metropolitan Golf Club.
'I play most of my golf out of De Zalze,' he says, 'but I also love Royal Cape Golf Club and Metropolitan Golf Club, and sometimes I drive to Paarl to play at Pearl Valley.'
When it comes to the best Springbok golfers past and present, Kitshoff lists Schalk Brits, Franco Mostert and Faf de Klerk. 'They were the top golfers but, during the years I was with the Springboks, there were 12 to 16 guys who were always keen for a round during every off-day.'
He says Duane Vermeulen is known to hit the ball well and Malcolm Marx, who is Kitshoff's business partner for Bomb Squad beer and clothing, smashes the ball a country mile. Kwagga Smith and Jasper Wiese are also keen golfers and their games have improved since they started.
'The best golfer in the current Springbok group is Franco. You can definitely see he has been playing since he was a kid. He's got that natural ability and a well-educated swing,' says Kitshoff of Mostert, who was a very talented golfer at school and had to choose between golf and rugby.
'Playing in front of 10 people on a golf course and playing in front of 50 000 people in a rugby stadium, I'm far more nervous with the golf'
When it comes to Kitshoff's long and short game, he says he's probably most accurate off the tee and still struggles when it comes to chipping and putting. 'I drive the ball quite accurately and enjoy the longer irons and 3-wood, but I struggle on a tricky up-and-down green.'
Kitshoff enjoys his Callaway clubs and has done custom fittings but, for him, it's all about having forgiving clubs so he can get the ball down the middle. 'With the Callaway set I have, off the club face I'm constantly getting similar distances and landing areas.' He adds miss-hits with Callaway clubs stay in play longer and he doesn't spray-gun the ball to the right as before.
However, in his golfing infancy Kitshoff had a number of embarrassing moments on the course.
'When I was just starting out I had this big over-the-top swing and at one point it was so bad I was almost aiming 90 degrees left to compensate for it,' he smiles. 'I had a lot of balls which ended up in people's houses, especially at De Zalze Golf Estate, and a couple of times I heard the “ding” sound when we played in Paarl and the ball hit the roof tiles.' Kitshoff says he gets most red-faced when he has to walk up to someone's house and go in search of his errant ball in their yard.
CARL FOURIE | EJ LANGNER | SUNSHINE TOUR
