Dylan Naidoo’s win in the SA Open last week at Durban Country Club, has lit a fire of desire for a new generation of South African golfers of colour, according to fellow professional Toto Thimba Jnr.
The 39-year-old Thimba Jnr turned pro in 2007 and has seen the Naidoo rise up through the ranks.
While the number of black Africans playing golf in South Africa in the amateur and professional ranks is still staggeringly low - it’s important for youngsters to see sports stars who look like them to find inspiration.
This is a point Thimba Jnr drove home, much like his booming drives on the fairways.
Inspirational win
“It's an inspiration what Dylan Naidoo did,” Thimba Jnr said.
“He inspired a lot of black professional golfers. I'm very pleased with how he performed last week and I'm happy for him which will make us work even harder so we can win big tournaments as well.
“But I mean, he played very good golf, he deserved it.”
The next step for SA golf would be to have black mentors for pro and aspiring pro golfers. While not saying he could be one such figure, it would be easy to see Thimba Jnr filling that role as he approaches 20 years in the paid ranks.
“I think we need sponsors, good sponsors obviously. And the unfortunate part about the black professional golfers, we don't have mentors.
“So it's kind of hard for us to kind of get where we want to. So I think if we can have mentors and proper sponsorship to be able to give us that platform, that boost to go further…
“I think we'll take it from there and they'll make a huge impact on a lot of professional golfers.”
Legacy
The biggest win of Thimba Jnr’s career came at the KCB Karen Masters in Kenya in 2019. His victories, however, is not what Thimba Jnr wants his legacy to be solely about.
“I don't want people to remember, or my kids to remember me by the tournaments that I've won.
“I want them to remember me by the impact that I've made in other people's lives. I've won big tournaments, after I won, Dylan won. I've made an impact with them. They came for advice.
“And I think that's the legacy that I want to leave. It doesn't matter how many tournaments I've won. I think that's huge for me.”