Married to a ‘local’, living in Potch, loving red meat and winning in Cape Town makes South Africa the perfect fit for the widely-travelled Rhys Enoch, writes MIKE GREEN.
From Truro, Cornwall, to a home in Potchefstroom; Rhys Enoch’s journey has produced memorable stops in a career that is gathering momentum.
Perhaps one stop of great impact was when Enoch stepped out of what can become the humdrum confines of a life in golf that can clothe a player in anonymity and the fear of permanent mediocrity.
Having got into the US Open in 2019 through the international qualifying event at Walton Heath in England, and made his way to Pebble Beach, he opened with a disheartening seven-over-par 78 – a round that included three birdies, six bogeys and two double-bogeys. It could easily have been enough to see him go through the motions in the second round and chalk his performance down to experience.
Instead, he went out and made an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys on his way to a five-under-par 66. It was a round that was topped only by the eventual champion, Gary Woodland. And it got the normally parochial US golf media to sit up and take note.
‘It was my best round ever, given the circumstances,’ recalls Enoch. ‘My caddie, Martyn Thompson, who has been pro for 30 years, said it was the best round he’d seen, which was pretty cool to hear. I’ve scored better in rounds, but to shoot a 66 at the US Open to make the cut is a special memory.’
But just how did a man born in Truro end up spending so much time in Potchefstroom, of all places? The human side of the tale is a love story involving Lynn van Rooyen: ‘I spend more time here since meeting my wife Lynn in February 2018 in Johannesburg,’ says Enoch, ‘and we have since added our two-year-old son Carter to the mix, who, frighteningly, already swings it better than I do! They live in Potchefstroom at the moment, which is a very different little town to what I’m used to.’
The golf side of the tale is built around amateur success which persuaded him to turn professional in 2012 after being on the winning European team for the Bonallack Trophy that year. Enoch had also represented Wales, Great Britain and Ireland and Europe at the Jacques Leglise Trophy, the Eisenhower Trophy, the European Amateur Team Championship and the Palmer Cup.
‘I signed with International Sports Management [ISM] when I turned pro,’ he recalls. ‘ISM’s head, Chubby Chandler, and Selwyn Nathan of the Sunshine Tour have a good relationship, so that Tour was a natural recommendation from Chubby.
‘I came to South Africa in 2013 for Qualifying School, and drove straight to Bloemfontein from OR Tambo International, which was quite an experience! I missed my card by one shot that year, but then received an invitation to the Dimension Data Pro-Am in February 2014. I finished ninth at Fancourt and my Sunshine Tour journey began.
‘The years after that I pre-qualified for the big events and played a few smaller events on the Sunshine Tour, managing to keep a card playing no more than 10 tournaments in a season because of commitments I had in Europe. And I met Lynn.
‘Potch is interesting. With the university, it’s an active place with lots of youngsters around in the gym and that kind of thing. The weather isn’t great for professional golf because it gets super-hot, and it’s so dry. The only real practice option here is Potchefstroom Golf Club which has a range, a chipping green and a putting green for me to use, along with some fun members and pros I’ve befriended to play with in Wednesday competitions.’
For all that, Enoch remains reliant on coaching and technical support back home in Wales.
‘From the coaching standpoint, I have been using Neil Matthews, who is the Golf Union of Wales coach, for the past 10 years. I’ve added Hugh Marr as a performance coach since the end of 2020. He works with other players on the DP World Tour. Gary Kellett helps me with my mind work, and Zach Gould is my trainer.’
That kind of connection is tough to replace in another country. ‘I’m not planning on becoming fully South African,’ says Enoch, ‘at least not just yet. But it is not beyond the realms of possibility as I love the country and the people.’
It’s a love that shines through when he recalls his maiden Sunshine Tour title, the Cape Town Open at King David Mowbray Golf Club in February 2018.
‘I remember a few things about the Cape Town Open win in particular,’ he says. ‘It was a rough week for everyone because of the water shortage and it was the first time I had to wash over a bucket and then use the bucket water to flush my toilet. That was a new experience for me. Getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and having midnight battles with them all week wasn’t my ideal rest either.
‘In round one, I played really well and opened with eight under, and still wasn’t leading. I thought, “OK, here comes a low-scoring week!” I added another eight under over the next two rounds and still I wasn’t leading, but I was in a good position for the final day on Sunday.
‘It’s just such a funny game. I remember getting to the 12th green in the final round and seeing that Peter Karmis had a big lead. I thought, “Right, I’m playing for second now.” I proceeded to par the tough 13th and then eagle the 14th. When I arrived at the 15th green, I saw that I was leading at 19 under!
‘Then the nerves changed dramatically so I had to re-evaluate and try to finish it off. A clutch par save on 16 and a bogey on 17 left me one behind again. On 18, I hit the purest shot of my life over the water to three feet with an 8-iron from 186. I still have no idea how the ball stopped so quickly and ended up so close. I tapped in to secure my first win on a major golf Tour!’
Two things stand out about that memory: calling the Sunshine Tour a ‘major golf Tour’ shows how highly Enoch rates it, and the ease with which he adapts to life in Africa is something that makes him instantly likeable to South African fans.
‘I’m not sure why I am not as fazed by allegedly tougher conditions in Africa than other Europeans or Americans,’ says Enoch. ‘I think after five years in the United States at East Tennessee State University, I grew accustomed to the heat, which is one bonus about playing in South Africa. The kikuyu grass also seems to suit my technique and, being a long hitter, the altitude helps me get extra advantage. I’m a huge fan of red meat and eating well in general, so South Africa is a good fit for me.
‘I have also had a decent bit of success in Zambia,’ he adds of three top 10s, including a playoff loss to JC Ritchie at the Zanaco Masters in Lusaka in April 2019.
‘Other than enjoying the layouts of both courses we play in Zambia, I can’t put my finger on why I play well there. I just get a really good vibe from the courses, the people and the experience. I’ve been fortunate to meet two great families in Lusaka who’ve looked after me numerous times and that’s a special thing in itself.
‘The last thing about adapting is maybe not complaining because things aren’t “perfect” all the time. I seem to be quite good at accepting things for what they are and I enjoy a different challenge.’
Surmounting those challenges clearly gets the juices flowing: he ended a seven-year wait for a Challenge Tour win when he triumphed at the D+D Real Slovakia Challenge in July 2019, three weeks after that memorable appearance at the US Open.
He’s also added a second Sunshine Tour victory to his list of achievements, at the Kit Kat Group Pro-Am in March 2021, the first tournament on the Sunshine Tour after the first Covid-19-enforced break.
‘My latest win was a great feeling because, leading up to it, I’d changed a few things in how I practise,’ he says. ‘So to get a result immediately was encouraging. Especially encouraging was finishing off the tournament so well with four birdies in the last five holes.’
As the mood of the world rises and falls with living with Covid-19, Enoch will continue to have his Wikipedia profile list his place of residence as Cardiff, Wales.
And he will continue to play Wednesday competitions in Potch, enjoying the heat and the red meat of the North West.
But mostly, he will continue to relish the experience offered by the challenge of adversity. That’s the fun of seeing him grow into an even better player.
SUNSHINE TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
2014: Dimension Data Pro-Am (T9th)
2015: Zambia Sugar Open (T7th), Sun Fish River Sun Challenge (T6th)
2018: Cape Town Open (1st), Zanaco Masters (13th)
2019: Zambia Open (5th), Zanaco Masters (2nd)
2021: Kit Kat Group Pro-Am (1st), Blue Label Challenge (T12th)
ALSO
2013: Kensville Challenge (T8th)
2015: Swiss Challenge (T8th)
2016: Terre Del Consoli Open (T4th)
2017: Finnish Challenge (T8th), Kazakhstan Open (T10th)
2018: Scottish Hydro Challenge (T6th), Irish Challenge (T9th)
2019: Slovakia Challenge (1st), Open de Portugal (T5th), US Open (71st)
2021: Scandinavia Mixed (T12th), Cazoo Classic (T13th)
– This article first appeared in the January 2022 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine. Subscribe here!
