James Kamte is arguably the most talented black golfer to emerge from the many efforts to transform and make golf more inclusive in South Africa, but he took the wrong fork in life's road. Sadly, by the time the personable Kamte realised his misfortune his body was not as strong and his talent had waned.

Kamte came from Humansdorp, a small town in the Eastern Cape not far from Jeffrey's Bay and St Francis Bay. He was called 'Village' for his prowess as a striker in football, and it was his impoverished surroundings that drew him to golf – to earn money as a caddie.

He trailed his elder brother to St Francis Bay Golf Club to lug the bags of members. From twisted wire 'clubs' hitting gumtree nuts, to cast-offs with which to hit real balls rummaged in the bushes (the good ones to be sold), to being given proper clubs by members, James quickly revealed a bent for the strange game unknown to his kinfolk.

He was pulled into coaching clinics and his discovery of golf led to the local Nomads and clubs in the area awarding him a bursary to Woodridge College. Next he was scouted by the Ernie Els Foundation.

He became a leading amateur, playing for Gauteng, and in August 2003 he turned professional. He was 21. Like so many, James found pro golf difficult to adjust to, but by 2007 a few high finishes led to his first win in the Seekers Travel Pro-Am tournament at Dainfern Country Club. It was a minor event but the first-prize payout was more than he had ever earned.

Life was good. He was a fine striker of the ball and administrators were starting to whisper, 'Could this be him? Could this Kamte kid be our Tiger Woods?'

'There should have been warning signs, perhaps someone should have stepped in, but he was headstrong and the world was his oyster'

Europe beckoned, an air ticket to be swapped for a card at Qualifying School. Kamte finished tied 22nd, right on the cut-off line of the 30 who got through. This made him the first black South African to earn European Tour playing privileges since Vincent Tshabalala in 1976. However, he ended the season ranked 138th, relinquishing his card.

His learning curve was still moving upward though and he returned home to win the Dimension Data Pro-Am in January 2008, becoming the first black South African to win on the summer swing of the Sunshine Tour.

Given that he would have few opportunities in Europe he entered the Asian Tour Qualifying School and came fourth. This meant he could play on this Tour whenever he wanted to and he flew to Thailand and won the Asian Tour International. It was a $300 000 tournament. As the winner his share was substantial, 16 percent or $48 000. At the then conversion rate of 8.28 rand to one dollar, he had made around R400 000.

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There should have been warning signs, perhaps someone should have stepped in, but he was headstrong and the world was his oyster. It got better. He was going to America to take on one of the hardest things to do in golf – win through sectional qualifying to get into the US Open.

He managed it – qualifying in Columbus, Ohio, to gain a tee time in the 109th US Open at Bethpage Black. At Bethpage he got to play practice rounds with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. In the championship itself he carded 74-72 to miss the cut by two… no humiliation, players much higher on the totem pole also went out.

But then he started to veer off course. In 2019 he appeared on a local TV show called 'I Blew It'. He was popular, he was loaded and the life of the party… and also the sponsor of the party. He admitted to bouts of heavy drinking and subtly his golfing graph turned downward and with it his funds dwindled.

As it turned out his most productive years were from 2007 to 2009, when he won four times, but Lady Fortune had turned her back. When he came to the realisation that he needed to get back on the straight and narrow, that he was being taken advantage of, he turned to the religious beliefs that had been part of his youth (his father is a pastor) to try to revive his career.

Life, however, has a way of hitting you when you're down. His dalliance with the dark side led to sponsors withdrawing and just when he was finding some traction again he suffered severe injuries to his wrist and knee while skateboarding. Other health mishaps dogged him and the years were stacking up.

Golf requires consistency and with the years of neglect followed by physical problems he struggled to get back to the level he was. He managed a victory in an off-peak Sunshine Tour event in 2011 – the BMG Classic played at Glendower – but that's where the 'Ws' on his résumé dried up.

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