A stalwart member of the Boland Golf Union who played a huge role in the successes of the Boland teams at the SA Country Districts Tournament, Dirk van Jaarsveld, has recently passed away.
Japie Genis, who was the secretary of the Boland Golf Union for many years, says Dirk van Jaarsveld had a particularly good eye for golf talent.
"Dirk had the ability to see which golfers had the golfing talent to be able to play at provincial level. Also, as a team manager, he was excellent with the selection of pairs at major tournaments. A big reason for that was that he knew every player so well."
"In those years, the Boland Union already had a Merit List and the top-4 players were automatically selected for the Boland Country District team. The other four players were selected and Dirk was usually "spot-on" with the choices he made.
One of the best Boland golfers of all time, Bertus Smit, said he got to know Van Jaarsveld very well when Dirk was a car salesman in Moorreesburg.
"Old Dirkie worked for the Ford agency and was a great salesman. He sold me a number of Ford Cortinas!”
"We played league together as well as every Wednesday in the competition at the Moorreesburg Club."
"Dirk was a very social person and everyone liked him. One of his strongest qualities as a golf manager was that he knew all the players. This was also one of the reasons for his good team selections for the SA Country Districts Tournament."
"I was the captain and Dirk the manager of the Boland team that won the SA Country Districts Trophy. We "clicked" well in terms team selection and player combinations.
The former Boland player Michel Frost said Dirk was a good league player. "He was very popular and usually the centre of social conversation."
"He and I both had a moustache in those years and when we saw each other we always bragged about whose moustache was the biggest. Our nickname for each other was “Ou Snorre!“
Recorded in the history of the SA Country Districts Tournament, it is stated that during the 1996 tournament at Royal Port Alfred, Van Jaarsveld was the Master of Ceremonies at the prize-giving function. Van Jaarsveld was also the Fines Master of the tournament and he collected so much money with fines that he was able to hand over framed photos of all the teams that participated in the tournament to the Royal Port Alfred club.
• The 87-year-old Japie Genis lives in Rawsonville these days and still plays social golf twice a week. "The balls I hit no longer travel far enough for me to play competition golf," he said with a smile.
Pic: Paarl GC
