It’s almost a pity really.
A great golfing nickname like ‘The Boom’ should belong to someone who gets raucous fans shouting uninhibitedly as he tees off. But it belongs instead to a much gentler soul. Vaughn Groenewald will forgive us all for saying he is not really that guy who will get the fans shouting loudly enough to irritate the myriad haters of the increasingly annoying ‘geddinthahole’ crowd.
Let him tell the tale of his nickname’s origin: “It started at the Platinum Classic at Mooinooi in 2006 when I sank a long putt to win and I shouted ‘Boom!’ when the putt went in,” he recalls. “Since then the name has stuck. The nickname is because I am a great putter and not a long driver. But I have to tell you that it’s a great feeling when the players on tour call me ‘The Boom’, as it gives me a lot of confidence.”
That title gave Groenewald his second win of the 2006 season after he had taken his maiden Sunshine Tour title just five months earlier at the Vodacom Origins of Golf event that year at Pretoria Country Club.
Those victories were eventual vindication for his decision turn professional all the way back in November 1995.
It was a difficult start to his career, as he broke into the top 50 of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit only once during his first 10 years on tour – in the 2002/3 season where he came closest to winning R100,000 in a single season. He managed his first runner-up finish on the circuit only in 2000, and he presaged his maiden victory with a share of third in the 2005 Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Pretoria Country Club.
One would have thought that the pair of victories in 2006 would herald the beginning of a lot more, but the truth is that it took him nearly six more years before he produced another runner-up finish on the Sunshine Tour.
And, frustratingly, it was a further three years before he was finally able to win again. It was fully eight-and-a-half years between his second victory – the one at Mooinooi – in October 2006 and his third, when he took the Zambia Sugar Open in Lusaka in 2015.
“My win in Zambia was my biggest win on the Sunshine Tour and what an amazing feeling getting me into Mauritius tournament the week after,” he recalls of those crazy few days when he had to book himself (and his wife, of course) to the Indian Ocean island to play in the kind of event that he would not ordinarily have expected to, based on his performances in the previous few years.
“It did take a while to sink in, but that gave me a lot more confidence going forward and knowing I can win a lot more tournaments,” he added.
So how did he manage to keep things going, keep his head together, during what must have been some pretty depressing moments in a career which places such a premium on repeating the things that bring you victory?
“I have been a professional for 23 years and I have learned a lot,” he said. “I have had many ups and downs where I learned a lot from all the mistakes I have made. I have been up there a couple of times and my experience did really help me through all the tournaments.
“I have always had the belief and I have always known that I had the talent to become a successful player on tour. It was just a matter of time before I was going to win again, but I knew in my heart of hearts that I was going to win.
“Yes, the wait and having to stay patient through it all made things tough because I got so close to winning. I tried to keep myself positive by focusing on the experience I gained from each tournament, no matter how I did in it. The most important thing was that I always wanted was to stay positive and believe.
“I have been in contention a lot more after winning again and it feels so much easier to get yourself into contention now than in the beginning. My game is so much more consistent than in the earlier days.”
Part of the rejuvenation of Groenewald came about in a complete change of scenery. The man who had played the whole of his professional life out of Ermelo, of all places, took note of the kind of changes that were being wrought in fellow professionals like Wallie Coetsee who had moved from small towns to substantially more appealing golfing – and living – centres.
For Groenewald, getting to George was like starting all over again, but with new and shinier toys. “Moving to George was the best move of my career and living on Kingswood Golf Estate, was the biggest boost of my career,” he said. “Playing on top class golf courses like Fancourt and Kingswood has given me a lot more stability in my game with great practice facilities and superb greens. My confidence has grown a lot since staying in George and I am so much more enthusiastic about the game of golf with the beautiful surroundings and courses here.”
In typical Groenewald fashion, he had a little wait for another win on the Sunshine Tour after he won in Zambia and twice in the following year 2016.
But the wait was not quite as drawn out as it had been in times past. He pulled off his sixth Sunshine Tour victory in the Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge in August, and he did it with a spectacular 61 in the second round, keeping himself in touch with the top of the leaderboard during a low-scoring week.
And the wait was not as long as it had previously been, despite the emergence of a generation of younger players on the Sunshine Tour who have made winning a little tougher than it used to be. “It’s great having all the new youngsters on tour, but the experience I have still counts for a lot,” he says.
That experience, together with experience he has built up in European Tour and Asian Tour events played in South Africa with more regularity now that he’s a more frequent winner, will stand him in good stead as he approaches the latter half of the 2018-19 Sunshine Tour season. He’s inside the top echelons of the Order of Merit (20th as of 10 September), and he knows he will win good money before the end of the season.
Because he’s been so assiduous in learning his lessons during a long, hard career, he has a wellspring of skill and resilience to draw on when the going gets tough – as it always does.
And you can be sure that there will be a moment when Vaughn Groenewald will sink a crucial putt, maybe even win again. And, quietly, to himself, he will say, “Boom!”
