Compleat Golfer’s playing editor is South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen. Apart from providing regular instruction, his monthly column takes you into his world
Balancing life on tour with a young family isn’t the easiest thing to do and that’s why 2016 has already been different to 2015 and previous years.
Things are really starting to get busy after I opened my season at the Qatar Masters, before playing in the Dubai Desert Classic. This is where things get a little tough off the course. I’m a real family man and enjoy my time with the family unit. My wife, Nel-Mare, and I have been married for nine years and we have three beautiful daughters. We used to all go on tour together, and this was still the case until August last year. My little one Jana – OK, I suppose one should say she’s the ‘big one’ – started school in August, so this year it’s a bit different and I’m going to be doing most of the weeks on my own.
It’s going to be more difficult doing a lot of tournaments in a row. It looks like I’m going to be on my own four weeks out of five, and basically see the family just the one week. I did get a chance to go back to the States from Dubai for five or six days, before I travelled to Malaysia for the Maybank Championship at Royal Selangor. Then it was down to Perth for my first ever trip to Australia.
There will be weeks when we’ll probably take Jana out of school to be with me when I’m travelling and playing. The other two are fine to travel and they aren’t in the school system yet, but we’ll see how it goes. They’re still young and adaptable so if home schooling is an option.
The girls do recognise me on TV when I’m playing and they’re at ‘home’ in the States, but I don’t really think that golf is their ‘go-to’ channel on TV! I don’t think it’s one of the things they really watch! But generally, they do their own thing and keep busy with their own stuff. Luckily, they still miss me when I go away and I chat to them every night via Skype. And the oldest one wants to Face Time me all the time … it’s good to know they want to talk to me at least.
