WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Vaughn

Groenewald

The next in our series of popular catch-ups with a household name on the Sunshine Tour from yesteryear 

BY MIKE GREEN​​​​​​​ 

It might not be quite what the nickname conjures up, but Vaughn 'The Boom' Groenewald might just be getting back onto local leaderboards in the near future.


Let him tell the tale of his nickname's origin: 'It started at the Platinum Classic at Mooinooi in 2006 when I sank a long putt to win and I shouted "Boom!" when the putt went in,' he recalls. 'Since then the name stuck. The nickname is because I am a great putter and not a long driver. But I have to tell you that it's a great feeling when the players on tour called me "The Boom", as it gave me a lot of confidence."


One of the most enduringly popular Sunshine Tour players, amongst competitors and fans alike, Groenewald has signed on to the Sunshine Legends Tour at the age of 51, and he played in his first event, the PGA of SA Senior Championship, at Middelburg Golf Club at the end of March.


'They gave me full exemption, which was great,' he says, 'and, after being out of competitive golf pretty much since Covid-19, a couple of things have started guiding me back.'

'I'm also busy (coaching) my son. He's 15 and he's also in the GolfRSA squad. He was born with talent. I love watching him because all the little things that I used to do with my hands and stuff, he does it automatically because he saw it'

AS A PLAYER​​​​​​​

Was a junior and senior Springbok amateur and rates his victory in the 1992 Silver Vase at the Royal Johannesburg Golf Club as his best moment as an amateur

Turned pro in 1995 and had a 26-year career until 2021

He won six times on the Sunshine Tour, with the 2015 Zambia Open being the only one over 72 holes

Reached a career high world ranking of 316 in 2015

Played 454 times on the Sunshine Tour, with 59 top 10s and a lowest round of 61 at the 2018 Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge

Made R6-million in career earnings on the Sunshine Tour

By the time the lockdowns took hold around the world, Groenewald had been on the Sunshine Tour for 25 years after he turned professional back in 1995. He had waited 11 years for his first win, which came in May 2006. A second came quickly, in October the same year. But then he had to wait until 2015 for a third. Again, he won quickly after that year, and he rounded out his collection of six Sunshine Tour titles with one in 2016 and one in 2018.


'Lockdown was good for me,' he says. 'I was actually at home for the first time for my kids' birthdays because I'd been away so much on the tour. My wife just said, "Why do you want to go back?"


'I had moved to George, and become a Fancourt ambassador. I went to speak to them and they said I could start coaching. In the beginning it was a little bit quiet but it wasn't long before the members started coming to me.


'I coach in a very easy way. I coach like a player so I'm not very technical. It's just getting the player in the right position and fixing the little things and then they can hit the ball better.

'I've also got lots and lots of young students that I'm coaching. I coach Isabella Ferreira who's in the GolfRSA squad. I've been coaching her for three years. We've changed her swing a little bit and now everything's working well. She's getting better and better and I think she wants to turn pro next year. She's got a lot of talent.


'I'm also busy with my son. He's 15 and he's also in the GolfRSA squad. He was born with talent. He's winning a lot. I love watching him because all the little things that I used to do with my hands and stuff, he does it automatically because he saw it with his eyes. It's great for the kids to learn with their eyes.'


The coaching has meant he has had to become properly qualified, so he is in his third and final year of qualifying as a PGA professional. And it's through the work he's doing to formally qualify that he has opened up a door to a possible return to competitive golf – even if it's only at a senior level.


He won the 2025 PGA Associate Championship in South Africa that qualified him to play the Australian National Associate Championship at Cobram Barooga Golf Resort. 'Even though I wasn't playing much, I thought I might as well just go and have fun and meet new people,' he says. 'When I was there I think I shot 73, 68, and then I shot 70 and 67 and came second.

'I loved it there. The greens were amazing. they were so quick and I love quick greens. And when I came back, my wife suggested that maybe it was time to start playing competitively again. So I phoned up the Sunshine Legends Tour and I'm in.


'I have designs on maybe going on to the European Legends Tour. I'm definitely having a look. But I've got all my lessons and stuff and I've got all my locals that I do, so I don't want to just drop that immediately. But I'm definitely going to see how it's going. Right now, I'm not practicing at all so I'm just going on feel.


'I'll see how it goes down in those first few events locally, and then maybe next year I'll see where I can go.'


He's found that he thinks his game can be even better with maturity now. 'While I'm not actually playing that much,' he says, 'my short game and everything was all there. I think after the second round in Australia, everything just started coming back. It felt like when I was on tour and had all the feelings and everything.

'And my mind is much better now because since I stopped five years ago, I'm thinking better so I'm not actually putting pressure on myself. My course management is better, so my shot choices are so much better.'


And, like the shot choices, his choice of home has made him content too. For Groenewald, getting to George was like starting all over again. 'I'm still staying in George at Kingswood,' he says. 'It's an amazing place. We should have come here years ago. The air is clean, it's crime-free and we've got all these beautiful golf courses around. Also the people are friendly so we're having a wonderful time and I don't think I'll ever move back to Johannesburg or Pretoria.'


While the call of 'Boom!' might not ring out in such a clarion fashion in the future, its author is in a good place in his post-Sunshine Tour life. And it may ring out often enough to remind everyone about him.

SHAUN ROY | THINUS MARITZ | CARL FOURIE | TYRONE WINFIELD | SUNSHINE TOUR