Pieter Zwart — from Zimbabwe to New Zealand
Pieter Zwart — from Zimbabwe to New Zealand
By Neville Idour
Caption: Pieter Zwart who is now living in Kerikeri in Northland. Photo credit: Golf New Zealand.
After enjoying playing in The Hills Pro-Am in December with Pieter Zwart I felt a chat with him would be worthwhile.
On the course he proved to be extremely pleasant and very generous in his eagerness to offer any assistance to the amateurs with him.
Zwart has much experience as a professional and earned his place at The Hills by winning the 2020 Trainee Professionals' Annual Championship.
“This is my second time at the Hills Pro-Am,’’ Zwart recalled.
``The first time I was invited was in 2018. I think it is an event unlike any other. Perfect venue, perfect golf course every day of the week and great company to boot so the whole time here has been great.”
Take us back to your childhood we ask. Zwart is happy to do that.
“I was born and raised in Zimbabwe until I was 16 years old. Didn’t play much golf at all. Maybe nine holes now and again….once a year!! I started playing regularly with more intention when I was 17. I played a lot of cricket and tennis competitively at a respectable level in Zimbabwe.”
“I think the quota system was a blessing in disguise. I probably would have pursued my cricket a lot more if I had been in teams that gave me more of a pathway. The quota system did not give me that opportunity so I missed out. But that was fine as I would not be where I am now.
“Living was tight and difficult in Zimbabwe so my parents moved to New Zealand with me in 2003. We lived in Maraenui (in Napier) for four years where I first played golf in New Zealand. Things we take for granted in New Zealand were not so in Zimbabwe.
``I would play golf every day. My brother would leave school and pick me up off the school bus and take me to golf. We moved to Napier and I got involved with golf and joined the Waipukurau Golf Club where I was a member forever. I think I still regard myself as a member there even though I’m not on the books now. I was a member at Bridge Pa from 2009 as well. We lived in Napier for five years.
“At age 18 I had got a scholarship to Lincoln University (near Christchurch). So I moved to Lincoln and Christchurch was my first experience of New Zealand outside Hawke's Bay. Hate to say I didn’t like it and I only lasted two semesters (six months). Didn’t have a car and they hit me with a whole bunch of studies and having to go to the gym. I had gone there to play golf and with Lincoln being 25 kilometres from Christchurch, that wasn’t for me. I didn’t think I could live up to those expectations.”
“So I left Lincoln and returned to the Bay (Hawke’s Bay) to really give golf a go. I wanted to be a professional golfer and played all the amateur golf I could and represented New Zealand at The Asian Amateur Champs in Japan. While I wasn’t selected by New Zealand Golf, my ranking was so high I qualified to go off my own bat.
“I came back from there and was unbeaten at the Interprovincials, had a stack of good results to finish second on the order of merit in consecutive years and I was hoping to get in to the academy they had at the time. But I got passed over for a couple of younger guys who had been in the system a bit longer.”
So he thought, that’s it and went to qualifying school in Taupo and got playing cards for New Zealand and Australia. Zwart was just 24 years old when he turned professional.
“So for my first year as a professional in 2011 I played the New Zealand circuit. I may have had one win. I make a point of going over to Fiji every year to play because I enjoy the people and I am able to stay with friends. They are great and came to my wedding.
``I have won their Sheraton Classic tournament three times, in 2011, 2017 and 2018. The year 2013 was a turning point with my Australian tour card when I won the Papua New Guinea Open, one of the biggest prize money events in Australasia. Being a tier one event it was a big boost for me.
“After that I’m not sure what happened but I may have taken it for granted and I basically fell off the radar till 2016 although I still played golf. I worked at whatever I could find in that period. A personal issue was dealt with, things clicked and I won the Charles Tour Muriwai Open. I was living in Auckland at this stage but I moved back to Hawke's Bay and started getting more serious. I got on a good run in 2017 and 2018. I must have won about 10 times. I was second on the order of merit and received an invitation to play the Hills Pro-Am.”
Zwart has also enjoyed several New Zealand Opens, making cuts but without raising any flags.
Zwart then met his wife Mignon who already had a daughter.
“We actually got engaged on the 18th hole at The Hills in 2018. I pulled a hamstring getting on one knee’’, Zwart said jokingly.
No wonder he has a soft spot for The Hills.
“We had a son. Then I had to get serious. Playing one day pro-ams was not going to cut the mustard. With a young family you can’t sustain a living just playing in New Zealand. I didn’t want to be away so I needed a qualification. I always remember my mum saying to me if you can get a piece of paper that says you can do something, you can go anywhere in the world, which is true. So I said right I am going to do it.”
What would he choose?
``I hated university so I wasn’t going there. I looked at the golf traineeship and said let’s do it. The first year was good, the second in 2019 was okay and was more of a baby year having my son born and not playing much golf.
``This year (2020) has been very quiet as I focussed on my studies. I wanted to get that box ticked.”
His win in the Trainee Professional Championships was the icing on the cake. He had finished runner-up the previous year in unusual circumstances. He shot nine under par in the first round and nine over par in the second round to finish even par.
His wife Mignon is from Kerikeri in Northland and that is where the family now lives. Zwart is the assistant professional at the Waitangi Club and is happy in that role although he would look forward to eventually having a head pro position with a pro shop to manage.
“Waitangi is a great course and I think the 11th hole (designed by Kristine Kerr) is one of the best par fives in the Auckland and north area.''
Zwart made a forthright final observation about the New Zealand golf scene.
“When the All Blacks go to the World Cup and lose in the quarter finals there are usually ramifications. What has happened with New Zealand golf in the last 20 years? Have we won anything significant? You have to go way back to the winning Eisenhour Trophy team headed by Michael Campbell to find any significant success.
“So why do we have the same people flogging the same horse. We have had the same infrastructure and same methods and have produced just a few golfers to compete successfully at the very top level in the last 20 years … Michael Campbell, Phil Tataurangi, Lydia Ko, Danny Lee, Ryan Fox, a natural sportsman, and Michael Hendry who basically did it on his own.
``Despite our small population I don’t think we are where we could be. Perhaps some new blood is needed. As for the juniors I like the formula of the Wakatipu Junior Golf Club and I think it would work where we are. “