It was 2am during the hard COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa in 2020 when the police arrived at the family home of top South African amateur golfer Christiaan Maas. The neighbours had reported hearing gunshots. Maas had to tell them they were mistaken: It actually was the sound of him hitting driver into a bed sheet in the back garden.
Such is the single-minded focus of the 18-year-old Pretoria native, who this year has won four times already on GolfRSA’s tournament schedule, including the big one – the South African Amateur – plus the subsequent Cape Province Open.
His SA Amateur victory is seen by many as an indication of a rapidly maturing talent with a big future in the game. Nico van Rensburg, a former South African touring professional and now commercial manager for the Ernie Els Group in South Africa, certainly believes so.
“The first time I saw him swing I just loved it,†says Van Rensburg, who has pretty much seen it all in golf since he turned pro in 1987, and went on to win six titles on the Sunshine Tour and three on the Asian Tour.
“Christiaan is the first golfer I’ve seen who’s in Ernie’s calibre with his short game and his ability to be really creative in this department."
NICO VAN RENSBURG
But it’s Maas’s short game in particular that has impressed him so much. In fact, Van Rensburg says the last time he saw a young golfer with such impressive short-game skills was a close friend of his with whom he came through the amateur ranks and started his professional career with on the Sunshine Tour – four-time major winner and South African legend, Ernie Els.
“Christiaan is the first golfer I’ve seen who’s in Ernie’s calibre with his short game and his ability to be really creative in this department,†Van Rensburg said. “When we were starting out on tour, Ernie’s chipping, putting and bunker play was incredible. His long-game strength came later.â€
Van Rensburg has known the Maas family for quite some time. “Christiaan’s father is my second cousin. When I still used to play on tour I would stay over with them from time to time. So I saw Christiaan’s talent from a young age. He was already hitting golf balls while still in diapers.â€
At the age of 11, Maas’ parents signed him up for membership at Pretoria Country Club (where European Tour winners Richard Sterne and George Coetzee also honed their games). Maas continued to play cricket, rugby and hockey, but it was 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen who swung his mind firmly the way of golf. Or, rather, Oosthuizen’s tractor.
“When he saw Louis play in the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour one year, and he saw the tractors and found out Louis owns John Deere tractors, he loved that,†Van Rensburg said. “The family has a farm and Christiaan loves tractors. So when he saw you could play golf and buy a tractor, he started focusing everything on golf.â€
As talented as Maas is, Van Rensburg would like to see the GolfRSA National Squad member delay turning professional until he’s at least 20 or 21 years old.
“I’m not a big believer in kids turning pro when they’re 18 or 19,†he said. “I believe in getting some life experience first, and then going straight to the big show on the PGA Tour. If you get stuck for too long on the smaller tours, it’s very difficult to move on from there.â€
For the past few years, Van Rensburg has worked more closely with Maas on his technique as well as on the mental side of what it takes to eventually succeed on tour.
“He’s very easy to teach,†Van Rensburg says. “He’s now close to 6 feet tall and his swing is so easy. He’s copied the swings of Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, so he’s very easy to work with in that sense. But you’ve also got to be streetwise on the golf course. You can’t just hit it well. So I’m also trying to convey my experience of being on tour since 1987, and how different the pressure is when you’re just playing for titles or playing to buy diapers for your children. But he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He is very strong mentally.â€
Maas’s determination and work ethic also impresses Van Rensburg, and reminds him of a saying he heard from one of South African rugby’s most successful coaches.
“Former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer once told me that talent beats hard work, until hard work wakes up and starts practising,†he said.
Talent was still fast asleep that morning the police arrived. But at 2am, hard work was wide awake.
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