Success Stories
Player development built through coaching, commitment and a complete understanding of the golfer.
Player Development
Liam — Player Success Story
Where It Started
Liam started working with Johan at BCC when he was approximately 12 years old.
Johan has coached Liam for approximately 10 years.
Development & Achievements
Liam progressed significantly throughout his development. He:
- Won 2 Club Championships
- Won 2 Ekurhuleni Competitions
- Won junior tournaments
- Achieved junior provincial colours
His Club Championship success was achieved at BCC.
Where He Is Today
Liam is currently a scratch club golfer.
Coaching Development
Liam was extremely self-driven and hardworking and consistently arrived wanting to improve.
A major coaching focus was developing a golf swing that delivered the club into a strong impact position. Considerable work was also done on:
- Course management
- Decision-making
- Translating technique into better golf on the course
Junior Development
LIAN OLWAGE — JUNIOR GOLFER SUCCESS STORY
Where It Started
Johan began coaching Lian Olwage when he was six years old. At the time, Lian was a beginner.
Johan has now coached him for approximately five years.
Development & Achievements
- Earned a place in his school league side
- Lowest nine-hole score: 44 from the red tees
His Goal
Lian's goal is to become a professional golfer and pursue the game at professional level.
Coaching Development
The initial focus was building sound golf technique. As Lian progressed, development expanded into:
- Speed
- Power
- Course management
- Scoring
The current focus is increasingly about learning how to translate technical ability into lower scores on the golf course.
Professional Tour
Hennie Otto — Professional Tour Success Story
How Johan Met Hennie
Johan met Hennie Otto while Johan was coaching Doug McGuigan in approximately 2010.
Hennie was already a successful professional golfer and had previously won on the Sunshine Tour.
The Putting Session
The coaching relationship began when Hennie asked Johan to look at his putting. They spent approximately an hour together on the putting green shortly before Hennie left for Italy.
Hennie left the session extremely confident and told Johan that he believed he could win the tournament. He was so confident that he said he would mention Johan's name during the prize-giving interview if he won.
That is exactly what happened.
Expanding Into Full-Swing Coaching
After the tournament in Italy, Johan and Hennie began working more extensively on Hennie's golf swing. The primary technical focus was getting the club into a better position:
- During the takeaway
- Around the three-quarter position of the backswing
Hennie's Strengths
Hennie was a phenomenal putter and an excellent driver of the golf ball. His wedge play also improved during this period.
Tournament Success
The most important victory was the Italian Open.
Johan and Hennie also experienced success together at the Dimension Data Pro-Am, and Hennie later won the South African Open at Serengeti.
International Experience
Some of Johan's most memorable experiences involved travelling internationally with Hennie, including:
- World Golf Championships event in Akron
- PGA Championship in the UK
- London Open
- Two tournaments in Majorca
Johan coached Hennie for approximately two years.
Hennie Today
Hennie currently competes on the Sunshine Tour and the Sunshine Senior Tour.
Professional Tour
Doug McGuigan — Professional Tour Success Story
Where It Started
Johan met Doug McGuigan at Ebotse.
Doug had already achieved success on the Sunshine Tour but wanted to become even more successful.
Coaching Development
Johan initially worked with Doug on his putting. The coaching relationship later expanded into Doug's full swing.
Doug Today
Doug currently competes on the Sunshine Senior Tour.