Name: Tjaart Nicolaas van der Walt
Birthplace: Pretoria, South Africa
Birthdate: 25 September 1974
Residence: Houston, Texas, USA
Golf/Country Club Affiliation: Redstone Golf Course, Houston, TX,USA
Height: 6ft1"
Weight: 189 lbs
Status: Married to Vicki
Education: Central Alabama Community College
Turned Professional: 1996
Tjaart (pronounced Chart) Nicolaas van der Walt grew up in Pretoria, South Africa in a family of 5 children; he being the second youngest. He started playing golf at a very late age of 14 and while on holiday with his family in the USA in his final year of high school in 1992, he played golf with members at a golf club in Raleigh, North Carolina. They introduced him to the idea of coming to the USA and playing golf for a college. By the time Tjaart started to pursue that option, most of the college coaches had filled their team quota's and Tjaart was forced to look at two year colleges where he had to accept "walk- on" status.
Central Alabama Commnunity College in Alex City was the two year college of his choice and after his 1st year, he was number 1 on the golf team. He went on to achieve All American status in the NJCAA Division. This status ensured him a scholarship for his second year at CACC.
On completion of his two year stint at CACC, Tjaart opted to turn Pro and returned to South Africa and qualified for the Sunshine Tour by winning the Q School in 1996. Since then he has been a regular on the Sunshine Tour, returning to his homeland every year and has always succeeded in maintaining a top 30 finish and better on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit for the past 8 years. In 2000, Tjaart finished 3rd on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. That secured him a spot in the American Express World Golf Championships in Valderrama, Spain in November of that year. His first PGA Tour event was a disappointment for Tjaart, golfwise, but it gave him a taste of the big tour and something to focus on and work towards!
Although it took him 4 years from then to make it to the PGA Tour, his solid career path from the Golden Bear Mini Tour in Jupiter, Florida to the Nationwide Tour, with a year stint on the European Tour, has prepared him well for where he finds himself today. A jouneyman in every sense of the word, Tjaart also played the South American Tour in 1996. Never shy to travel, Tjaart has played golf on just about every continent in the world.
Often asked what his career highlights are, Tjaart has summarised them as playing the 3rd round of the Nationwide BMW Charity ProAm at the Cliffs with Jack Nicklaus in 2003 and earning his Tour card at the 2003 Qualifying School after heartbreakingly missing it at the 2003 Nationwide Tour Championships a month earlier. His first, and only Major Championship to date, was the Open Championship in 2004 which he qualified for through the International Qualifying process held earlier that year in South Africa. And finally, finishing 2nd to Brad Faxon in a playoff at the Buick Championship in Hartford, Connecticut in 2005, was a career high for him.
Tjaart loves the game of rugby and is an avid supporter of South African rugby - whether it be the national team or provincial teams. Although rugby is not always readily available on TV in the USA, the internet options available to watch games via the net, have made this pastime of his much more accessible. You will always find Tjaart logging on after a round of golf on Saturday to watch the recorded games on the internet.
In his off time from golf, Tjaart enjoys heading home to South Africa where going on wildlife safari's is one of his favourite things to do. He enjoys being in the African bush with the wildlife and particularly enjoys observing Cheetah in their natural habitat.
But Tjaart is happiest when he is standing over a fire cooking meat and hanging out with his friends/family. Now that is a South African tradition of which Tjaart is most attached to and which reminds him most of his beloved homeland. He is, after all, proudly South African!
