My Special Holiday – from Izel
Izel Pieters reports
I am so excited to tell you about the trip.
A year ago a big carrot was put in front of my nose. “If you do well in school, play good golf and earn merits, you can go visit Ernie Els in America”. That took a lot of hard work, catching up school work, a lot of tournaments, practising every day and a few tears were shed.
In March my dream come true. We left South Africa on the 1st of March.
Arriving in New York, it was -4⁰, ice cold and windy but very exciting. Our flight to West Palm Beach was only later that evening, so we went shopping. I missed Erica, shopping with boys is not the same, but it was an amazing day.
The only exception was when our bus broke down somewhere in the city and we had to walk a few blocks to catch another bus and then we missed our flight that afternoon because of a gate change. We arrived in West Palm Beach just past midnight.
Early the following morning we went to the Honda Classic at the PGA National Championship Course. A few South-Africans played and we were going to walk with them. Each of us received a pass that allowed us in almost everywhere. We met Ernie Els just before he teed off and Louis Oosthuizen, who was also one of the past members of the Foundation.
Ernie joked with us on the seventh hole and said: “Gaan loop bietjie saam met die Tier.” We tried walking with Tiger but the crowed was just too big.
On the Wednesday we had the opportunity to play the same course the pro’s had played. It was an amazing experience. The course is well manicured and played very differently to other courses.
After the round Oom Hannes van Niekerk the CEO of the EEFF and also our chaperone for the trip, told us to get dressed for a dinner with Ernie’s manager, Phil.
As we drove into the place to eat, we had to stop at a huge gate that said “Welcome to The Bears Club”. We immediately realized that we were going to have dinner with Ernie. What an experience. He is a real South African and a down to earth person. He and his wife were so friendly and their hospitality was exceptional. It was so nice to speak Afrikaans for a while. During the evening another guest arrived, Mr Johan Rupert and his wife, and spoke to Charl Schwartzel on the phone. It was an amazing experience meeting him. This was an unforgettable evening. I still had a lot of questions to ask.
The next day we went the Butch Harmon’s Academy where we met his son Claude Harmon. It was a fantastic experience. They did some swing analyzing on me and were very impressed with what I have achieved so far.
I want to thank Ernie Els in particular and his team in America for the trip and everything they organised for us and also The Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation.
Thank you
Izel Pieters
Extract from the Ernie Els & Fancourt Founndation Newsletter
Four members of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation won’t forget the first week of March 2012 in a hurry. Dylan Raubenheimer, Shaun Smith, Izel Pieters and Mojalefa Xaba were personally invited by Ernie to visit him in Florida, as a reward for their outstanding efforts on and off the golf course during their time at the Foundation. It turned out to be the trip of a lifetime for the Foundation’s Florida Four.
They first stopped off in New York and then spent the weekend at the Honda Classic, a wonderful opportunity to enhance their golfing education and experience the buzz of the PGA Tour. They got to walk the course, chat with Ernie and watch Tiger, Rory McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen who was once a member of the Foundation. The Golf Channel also invited the kids behind the scenes and gave them a slot on television. They finished their stay with a visit to see Claude Harmon III, Director of Instruction at Butch Harmon Floridian.
“They absolutely deserved this trip and it was a thrill for me to welcome them to Florida,” said Ernie. “They’ve all achieved great things during their time at the Foundation. Shaun was the Foundation’s outstanding golfer in 2011 and made it to the semi-final of the South African Amateur Championship. That week Dylan won the Proudfoot Trophy, awarded to the leading scorer in the strokeplay qualifying stages. Izel and Mojalefa have been doing great in school and on the golf course, too. I’m proud of every one of them. I know they’ll go home to South Africa with some good tips and some great memories, which is what this was all about.”
