Heritage Resorts - Stories 2018 - Issue 2 - Magazine - Page 12
|GOLF
LOUIS
OOSTHUIZEN:
BUILDING A
LEGACY
TURNED PROFESSIONAL IN 2002 AT THE AGE OF 19,
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN HAS BEEN ENJOYING A RICH AND
SUCCESSFUL GOLFING CAREER OVER THE LAST 16 YEARS.
IN 2009, HE LAUNCHED A RANGE OF LOUIS57 BRANDED
MERCHANDISE, WHICH INCLUDE CLOTHING, GOLF
ACCESSORIES, WINE, BEER, COFFEE, A TRAVEL AGENCY
AND MORE. THE ‘57’ IN HIS BRAND NAMES REFERS TO ONE
OF HIS DEFINING MOMENTS RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING
OF HIS CAREER, WHEN HE PLAYED A ROUND OF 57 (15
UNDER PAR) ON THE MOSSEL BAY GOLF COURSE IN 2002.
The South African champion
golfer is the co-designer of
Heritage Bel Ombre’s second
18-hole championship
golf course, planned for
late 2019, alongside Peter
Matkovich who also designed
the first golf course of
the domain.
“GOLF IS A LOT LIKE LIFE, YOU LEARN
SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY…”
With our curiosity piqued, we
had a chat with Louis to find
out more about the secrets
of his success.
Ben Hogan once said,
“I never played a round
when I didn’t learn
something new about
the game.” What are
your thoughts on this?
I couldn’t agree more. Golf is
a lot like life, every day you
learn something new, and
on the golf course, it’s pretty
much the same.
A sound mind is
vital for a successful
performance. Do you
have any ritual that
gets you ready before a
big game?
I try to relax as much as
possible before a big game.
On the Wednesday before,
I usually go into “Game
mode” and start focusing
on my preparations for the
particular golf course or
tournament. I also use music
when I warm up before the
round so that I can focus on
what I want to achieve with
each shot.
Do you often watch
your past performances
to identify your
weak points?
Not really. I do watch my
weekly and annual stats to
see where I have improved
and where I need to improve,
but I don’t put too much
focus on that. Too much
stats can take your focus off
playing the game, and that is
what you are supposed to do
– play as well as you can.
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