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Port Elizabeth - Sharks rugby star Curwin Bosch is treading his former home turf at Humewood Golf Club in Port Elizabeth for the Vodacom Origins of Golf's two-day pro-am format.
The event sees South African golf pros play alongside invited guests in the lead-up to the professional event that tees off on Thursday.
With rugby super-fan Jacquin Hess partnering Bosch, his mind will not be able to stray too far from his primary sport.
"It's a great way to reset," Bosch said when asked about how golf features in his rugby-dominated life. Between training and recovery sessions the versatile 22-year-old, who is equally at home at flyhalf or fullback, enjoys a frequent round of golf.
"I do play a lot, but golf is a great tool to learn skills that cross over into other aspects of life and rugby in particular," confessed the Grey High School alumni.
With the Rugby World Cup in full swing - even on the greens and fairways of Humewood Golf Club - talk of the oval ball game is near constant. Not that it seems to bother Bosch. He's happy to chat about the Springboks and is confident that they will bounce back from their opening round defeat to the All Blacks.
"I know the mood in the camp is really good. The side has been moving in the right direction during The Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup warm-up games. While defeat on Saturday wasn't ideal, the boys won't let it affect them too much. I'm sure we can reach the final," said Bosch.
Bosch and his fellow Vodacom Origins of Golf players experienced a similarly difficult start on Tuesday morning. Wind was expected but in the drought-stricken metropole the rain was a surprise.
"We started in a storm this morning," Sunshine Tour veteran Hennie Otto laughed once the sun had come out.
"Tomorrow (Wednesday) the wind is going to pump but you need a bit of wind at this golf course to make it a bit more challenging."
Not every player shared Otto's enthusiasm for the perfect links golf weather. Andre de Decker had to change out of his soaking wet trousers into shorts half-way though his round, as he had forgotten to pack wet weather gear or an umbrella. While Derick Petersen joked that he had no dry gear left.
"I've played three holes and used three gloves. Now they're all wet," said the player from George.
The wet start to the tournament caused Bosch to struggle on the opening holes and allowed him to draw neat parallels to his Springbok colleagues’ current situation.
"If you hit a bad tee shot you can't let it affect the rest of the hole. Or the rest of the round. The Rugby World Cup is six weeks long and an early loss need not define the rest of the competition."
Perhaps the only man more bullish about the South African rugby team’s chances in Japan, than Bosch himself, is his Vodacom Origins of Golf partner, Hess.
"I'm excited for the main tournament which tees off on Thursday," Hess enthused. "But while I've had some great results in the Vodcom Origins of Golf I'm actually more excited for the rugby this weekend. I hope we smash Namibia on Saturday!"
