Kearsney College's Reece Brown out to excel

As part of the 2024 high performance intake of the KZN Golf Union, Kearsney College matric pupil Reece Brown is hopeful that he can do enough to get selected for the KZN team to compete at the Inter-Provincial Tournament in Gqeberha at the end of the year.

Brown has joined a large group of fellow KZN golfers on the state-of-the-art programme set up by the KZN Golf Union. The programme offers players assistance across all facets of their game and has proven to be a crucial element to their success in the past.

For the youngster, golf has been a part of his life for as long as he could remember.

"From the moment I could stand I was swinging a golf club," Brown said. "My dad and my granddad took me to the driving range from when I was only 18 months old.

"We lived on a golf course, Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate for the first ten years of my life, and then Cotswold Downs Country Club Estate, so I was always exposed to the game of golf.

"I started playing lots of golf in primary school when I joined Highbury’s golf team, and we competed against other local and national primary schools."

Having grown up with the game Brown has seen his game evolve and grow as he's grown up. With his golf game still developing, being part of a programme like the KZN Golf High Performance Programme, he believes it's only helped him improve.

"I feel blessed, honoured and privileged to be a part of the high-performance squad; the benefits have been amazing.

"It is exciting to have even more opportunities to play golf with my friends. It’s been lots of fun.

"I enjoy the training sessions, and these have helped me work on my weaknesses. I’m hoping that the training sessions in the high-performance squad will help me to become more consistent," he added.

With sport running through his veins, Brown is a keep padel players and enjoys other sports away from golf while studying for matric. He has some exciting plans for his future away from the game of golf.

"I love playing padel as well as spending time with friends or watching sport when I want to get away from golf. I’m in matric this year so I mostly study when I don’t play golf.

"I am planning to study a degree (BSc Quantity Surveying) after school while playing as much golf as possible."

Being a Cotswold Downs resident, Brown lists the Upper Highway course as his favourite.

"Cotswold Downs is always in superb condition - all year round. The members and golfers are extremely friendly and welcoming – it’s my happy place," he commented.

This year Brown showed his mettle in a dramatic KZN Players Championship finish where he was beaten in a play-off. Despite that loss he reflects on that as one of his proudest moments.

"I shot 65 at the KZN Players Championship at the Maritzburg Golf Club and that got me into a play-off. Unfortunately, I lost, however I have won other tournaments but never with such an aggressive score.

"I also shot 67 at Serengeti Estate in the 2023 National Inter-Schools tournament."

Brown will be hoping to be among the final team that gets selected for the Inter-Provincial Tournament in December.