In a sport now dominated by swing analysers, biomechanics, and digital coaching apps, Isaac Mahoney is something of an anomaly.
At 70 years old, the longtime coach for the South African Golf Development Board (SAGDB) still teaches the game the way he first learned it; with simplicity, imagination, and a deep understanding of what golf can offer beyond the scorecard.
“I don’t care whether they are A Division, B Division or C Division champions,” Mahoney said on the driving range at Devonvale Golf & Wine Estate. “I just want them playing golf.”
He was there overseeing a golf clinic hosted alongside this week’s Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament, guiding a group of wide-eyed SAGDB golfers with the same quiet focus he’s brought to the program since its inception in 1999.
Over the years, Mahoney has helped hundreds of underprivileged children discover golf; sometimes using little more than household items and ingenuity.
“I’ve used an old duvet on my wife’s washing line, broomsticks, anything really,” he said with a chuckle. “I try and make it as simple for them to understand. I explain it to them using examples they can relate to. For example, I tell them if you lift up a cooldrink can, then your elbow and wrist action looks like this, which is a good action for the golf swing as well.”
This unorthodox but effective approach traces back to his childhood in Worcester.
“There was a golf course in what we called the township, and I lived behind it. Naturally, I was a caddie,” he recalled. “We used to make clubs out of wire and then bend the face open or closed to create the different lofts. We made our own golf balls. And then we’d play through the backyards of the township. That was our version of a golf estate.”
But for Mahoney, the real power of golf lies not in building a perfect swing; it lies in building better people.
“Golf is the reward. The end result of whether they become superstars in the game doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “These kids will grow up and remember the lessons of golf one day. That’s more important.”
And every lesson on grip, stance, or follow-through comes with a deeper message.
“I teach them about avoiding the hazards on a golf course like avoiding the hazards of life. And if you find yourself in a hazard like a bunker, you need to equip yourself to get out of it,” he explained. “As in life, if you make a mistake, you need to have the tools to correct it. I tell them that in their lives, it’s about not lying about a mistake. Tell the truth, and then you’re out of the bunker, so to speak.”
It’s a philosophy that’s borne real fruit.
“The kids are all over the place, but as soon as they start playing golf, they change. Their whole personality changes. You see changes at school and at home,” Mahoney said. “I had one girl who just wasn’t performing anywhere in her life. She started playing golf and it changed her entirely. Today she’s a member of the SAPS and plays golf for the police.”
Since 2004, the Vodacom Origins of Golf series has supported SAGDB clinics, giving young players a rare chance to interact with professionals and glimpse a world that golf can open up to them.
Yet for Mahoney, it always circles back to the same core truth; that the game gives far more than it takes.
“We can offer golf nothing, but golf gives us everything,” he said. “It’s up to us to get the kids into golf and to teach the lessons of golf. The game will then decide where they go with it. But the life lessons will always be there for them.”
In an age of TrackMan stats and slow-motion swing breakdowns, Mahoney still relies on old-fashioned wisdom, and it’s changing lives, one child at a time.