Compleat Golfer’s playing editor Louis Oosthuizen takes readers off the course, beyond the cameras, and into a glimpse of his life.
What does a day in my life look like when I’m not in ‘competition mode’? Well, I wake up like any other dad out there when my kids wake me up, usually around 6am. I’ve never been the kind of guy who lies in.
It’s great to spend that extra time with the family around the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, or, most likely, two. The girls are homeschooled but there’s a classroom, so we get them ready and see them off at around 8am. Then, as you might expect, I go off to play golf, either a round with friends or I just spend some time on the range.
The game of golf is ingrained in me and I don’t waste an opportunity to get out there and swing the club, whether it be in the buildup to a tournament or if I’m trying to take out a mate. I don’t practise for too long; I probably spend most of the time on the putting green because that’s where it really matters, and then hit some balls – just to keep the rhythm going.
I’ll race off home afterwards to make sure I’m back when the school day finishes and then we just spend some time having fun in the pool and share a nice meal together. The next day we push repeat.
It kind of becomes your normal routine and spending 8am to 3pm on the course is my version of ‘office hours’.
Saturdays are different, because it’s usually rugby day and everything revolves around kick-off time. Thankfully, I can stream the Stormers games. It’s quite an adjustment watching my team play without a beer and some biltong in my hand because of the time zone, and it’s something I still struggle with.
Beer is a passion of mine and you’ve probably seen my 57 lager – it’s so good. It’s a craft beer and we’ve teamed up with a good brewer and produced a great product. It’s made for the person who loves beer and I’m really proud of it. The whole project sort of just happened; we had one meeting and all parties liked the idea and it snowballed into something big and is still growing.
It’s something that keeps me busy, as does my early venture into golf-course design. It’s so much fun, but they are quite strict with me and the bulldozers – I guess they think I’ll wreck the place. Design, especially when it comes to the landscape, is so intricate – you won’t find me criticising anyone’s decision, because you never know what kind of land they had to deal with. I’m actually quite nervous for the site at Nkonyeni – we’ve done a great job so far, but that’s before the public have got out there and played it.
Returning to the game, what a pleasure it is to see Dylan Frittelli coming through and performing so well week in and week out. He’s obviously been touted as one for the future and now he’s coming good in a big way.
Golf in South Africa is in a good place – with Branden Grace winning the Nedbank and doing really well at the beginning of the year. Brandon Stone is another strong one. He’s gone through a little slump but we all know, and more importantly he knows, that he’s good enough and I’m sure we’ll see him bounce back soon.
It’s now just a case of us going out and working hard to see if we can get the job done at Majors and on the Tours around the world. It’s getting tougher and tougher to win with all the talent coming through, but we’ve got enough in us to fly that flag nice and high.
– Louis Oosthuizen is the playing editor of Compleat Golfer and shares his insight monthly
