Irene Country Club elected its first female Club Captain at the AGM, and Dianne Dyason becomes the third female Club Captain currently standing in Gauteng North.
Ella Cole was elected captain earlier this year at The Els Club Copperleaf in Centurion, and Rieks Tiley has been captain at Woodhill golf estate in Pretoria since last year.
Female Club Captains are rare at traditional South African member clubs, where there is usually a separate captain of the women’s section.
However, it is relatively common to find them north of the Jukskei River. The first in the region was Jenny Brewis at Woodhill in 2003/04, according to Gauteng North Golf Union Manager Taryn Davel. Zwartkop Country Club previously elected Pat Roets as their captain.
Silver Lakes have not had a female captain, but Barbara Green served as Chairman of the golf club in 2014/15.
Barbara Rotteveel was club president for eight years at Prince’s Grant on the KZN North Coast, from 2012 to 2019. She’s also a former club champion.
Dianne Dyason has been a member at Irene for 15 years and served on the committee since 2006, including two terms as women’s captain. The success of the women’s section at Irene has inspired her to energise the combined golf section of the country club into becoming one of the best in the Gauteng community, by remodelling the traditional structures.