South African cricketers are very confused bunch. After a long hard day in the sun chasing a small ball around they do what any normal human would do to relax – spend a long hard day in the sun chasing an even smaller ball around. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
br>Neil McKenzie is one of the many cricketers in the national squad that wiles away his free hours on the golf course. His regular playing partners include his brother Gavin, Gauteng cricketer Zander de Bruyn, national squad regulars Gary Kirsten and Mark Boucher, and the some-time South African allrounder Justin Kemp.

Of course, with cricket taking up most of McKenzie’s time during the season he rarely gets a chance to play on a regular basis.

“In season we don’t play much. It gets quite irritating because we play golf days and then not much else after that. When we are away on tour, though, we try and get to a course. It makes a nice change from playing on the South African courses.”

All good golfers (and cricketers) need the best equipment and McKenzie is no different. Thanks to a charitable sponsorship perk (through Gunn & Moore) the Titans ace can be seen hacking up his home course, the Royal Kensington in Johannesburg, with a lovely set of Ping irons and woods. Although hack would perhaps not be the correct terminology. Through his generous working hours McKenzie has carved himself a nice little eight handicap. His most memorable moment on the course, though, comes when his handicap was a more disrespectable 23.

“I hit a hole-in-one on a par 3. I totally mis-hit the shot, smacked the ball in the teeth and it went straight in. I think I shot 103 on the day.”