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In 1973 Peter Matkovich and family moved to South Africa from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and settled at Circle Golf Club, Pinetown. Soon thereafter he moved to Umhlali Country Club where he fulfilled the role of club professional, playing professional and course superintendent. Playing all three roles was fairly normal for the times, unlike today. Umhlali was then only a 9-hole course and the club was set to add another 9 holes and complete Umhlali as a full 18-hole course. With extensive experience gained from playing the tour locally and abroad Peter took on the job of designing and building the new holes and at the same time redesigning many of the existing holes. The new course opened in1975 and was Peter’s first foray into designing and building golf courses and an experience that was to ‘open many doors’ in the future. A few years later Peter was appointed course architect in the designing and building of Worcester Golf Course in the Western Cape. Peter’s grounding, as a player and course superintendent, and his passion for the game ware natural ingredients in his evolution to a course architect and designer. However in an economic climate that saw many courses closing, the industry of designing and building golf courses was particularly slow and Peter found it difficult to grow wings and fledge his growing desire to design and build courses. In the early ‘90s long-time friend and leading golf professional, Dale Hayes, teamed up with Peter to help promote the business. Dale had played professionally and very successfully in Europe and America and was quickly becoming a well-known and respected golfing personality in South Africa, both on and off the course. With Dale’s communication and marketing skills and Peter’s design and construction skills they were an ideal association and thus formed Matkovich & Hayes. Peter’s first appointment was San Lameer in 1990 so he began gathering a team to do the job and at the same time laying the foundations of the company. Joining Peter were a few instrumental staff members who were to help steer the company to where it is today: Sabine Baring Gould - construction manager, Brian Blount – finances, Trish Jackson - secretary and Living Gabela- excavator operator. With this team in place and Peter’s experience the company was ready to do business. In the ten years to follow, Matkovich & Hayes built close on ten golf courses that cemented them as one of the leading design and construction companies in South Africa today. In May 2006 WBHO Construction, one of the leading forces of the construction industry in SA, bought a controlling stake in Matkovich & Hayes. Both companies saw areas where they could benefit from each other and it further strengthened Matkovich & Hayes’ position in the market. Although Matkovich & Hayes now falls under the wing of WBHO they still operate out of Ballito, on Kwazulu Natal’s north coast, where Peter has his office and drawing board and where all administration functions are performed. Dale remains a great friend of Peter’s and is someone who Peter consults for his valuable observations and criticism. Since the early ‘90s the team has become a tight-knit ‘family’ and a multi-disciplinary group, bound together by loyalty, with trusted associates that design and build world-class golf courses locally and internationally. |
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