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VOLVO GOLF CHAMPIONSJanuary 19, 2012Thomas AikenGEORGE, SOUTH AFRICA THE MODERATOR: 5‑under par 68, Branden was asked earlier, do you think you would be four shots off the lead when you shot a 68 today. THOMAS AIKEN:  You never know around this place. We have got 35 really good golfers here. If you look at the scoreboard, the majority of them are under par, well, as far as I can see. I think there are ten people 3‑under or better. Yeah, the conditions are fantastic today. It was really hot, that was the only thing. The course is in fantastic condition. I think they have got it just right between the fairways running too much and not running at all. So the course was really in perfect condition for scoring. But it's a really challenging golf course, especially off the tee. If you miss the fairway in really dense bush and struggling to make bogey‑‑ you really need to put the ball in the right position. Fortunately most of the time today, I did. When I hit a few wayward shots but luckily my putter got me out of jail when I did. Overall pleased with the round. Nicolas had a phenomenal round. Q. What happened on 9? Did you hit three drivers there? THOMAS AIKEN:  There's no spotter there today and normally that hole you have a spotter on the left so you can't see where the landing area is at all. I hit my tee shot left off the tee, so don't know where it is, if it was on the edge of the fairway or missed it just left. Then hit a second ball and hit it even further left. So then I hit a third one and hit it over the bunker. So I found all three balls, first two were right next to one another, just ten yards off the fairway next to the cart path. That's just what happens, you can't see where the landing area is. Q. Is there much of a difference between the front nine and the back nine? You did very well on the front nine. THOMAS AIKEN:  I would say the back nine has got a little bit more scoring opportunity with three par 5s. But you know, you've still got to hit the ball really well on those three par 5s. 16 is a tough driving hole and the second shot is even tighter. And 18 is a nice par 5, so you have quite a lot of scoring opportunities on the back nine. I just played really well on the front, gave myself a lot of opportunities, hit it close on the par3s, and capitalized and then, yeah, just hit the ball really well on the front nine. On the back nine, didn't hit it quite as well. So that was the reason for me playing better on the front. Q. Talk us through the cap. THOMAS AIKEN:  A lot of people have been asking about my cap. Well, I haven't got a sponsor yet, if anyone is wondering. But you know, I've been waiting for something worthwhile to put in my cap and I want something more worthwhile than trying to help all our rhinos that are struggling so much the last two years. It's disgusting what's happening. I started my own charity, Thomas Aiken Rhino Fund, and I did my homework and spoke to a lot of people asking where we can put our money and who is doing the best programmes. I got in touch with Trevor Jordan from Jordan Properties up in the Hoedspruit area and they are doing a fantastic job with Rhino Revolution. He really has taken the bull by the horns, or in this case, the rhino by the horns, in the way that I've heard a lot of other charities have raised a lot of money, but no one can really see where the money is going, if it's going into bulletproof vests, night vision, goggles. Those things really don't make that much difference. We have got a war going on with basically the east and the prize is the rhino, and whether it will stay or whether it will become extinct. It's being valued at $1million a horn and so we have a serious financial problem with the fact that they have a lot of money and we don't, and how do you fight a war when someone has more ammunition than you do, and you need to fight clearly. So we have not taken one aspect, we are trying to do everything. We have got tractors on the ground and we have really focused on the Hoedspruit area because that's where Trevor is mostly involved and he has a lot of influence over there. So we have got tractors on the ground and we have got roadblocks on the three roads in and out, and we have got help from the Air Force with the radar tower, because they are shooting them from helicopters now. And we are also doing something which I think is the most important thing which a lot of people are finding is very controversial, and that is trying to dehorn the rhino. At the current rate that they are being poached, we have got about six years left until they are extinct. So we have a serious time frame to play with. If we hang around too long, we are going to be too late. So a rhino horn is like a fingernail. It's hair‑based and it grows back, and they have no nerve endings. You might as well chew on your nail; that's how much nutrients are in it. What we are doing is we have top vets coming and dehorning and leaving a stump. So far we have de horned over 50 rhinos and not one fatality in the dehorning process, which says a lot about the vets, because it's not as easy as it looks. But they do a fantastic job. And then they take the horn off and we chip a rhino, which the horn has been taken off, and all our rhinos whose horns are taken off are still alive today, so it's obviously working and they will grow back. In just over five years, they grow back, to just over the normal length a lot of people say, what does it do to the behavioural pattern of a rhino. The only problem is when a rhino comes face‑to‑face with another rhino and one has a horn and one didn't and they have a territorial fight. That's the only time that they use their horns a lot. About two percent of the time they use it to forage for a few roots, but they can get enough nutrients without foraging, so there's no worry about that. What we are trying to do is legalise trading rhino horns so that we can flood the market with all of the horn that we have got. We have spoken to all of the top rhino breeders in South Africa, and if we can flood the market and bring the price down, then they won't really have any resources to poach. So that's the aim, and with the proceeds that we get we will put back into conservation. So I think it's a great cause and a great thing that they are doing, because a lot of people are sitting on the fence and saying, oh, it's inhumane, you can't do this, you can't do that. But at least these guys have made a decision and are sticking by their decision. They are not umming and ahhing and whatever people say, some people are negative about it but they stick to their guns and it's working. We have got a website, Rhino Revolution, and we will have the ability for the public to donate funds and I think it's KPMG who will do the auditing so you will know exactly where your money is going and we will post the audit online. We are not trying to hide anything or stale anyone's money. We are trying to save our rhinos, which is part of our national heritage, which is one of the big five, which is far more important than this golf tournament we play. Q. How bad is the heat? How much does it affect play? THOMAS AIKEN:  It's hot. It's humid so you sweat a lot. I had a few shots coming in under a hundred yards, and I don't use a glove under a hundred yards, hands get really sweaty and just really uncomfortable. I hit a few bad shots from under a hundred yards coming in. It's normally not hot down here, it's quite a mild, dry heat and it's really been humid the last few days. Apparently they are having like their hottest December in the last 25 years. It would be the one December I didn't come down here on holiday. Yeah, yesterday was sweltering and so you need to make sure you drink a lot of water and have a few electrolytes, as well, because if you don't, you can really dehyrdate. It was hot. Q. Did you used to have an association here? THOMAS AIKEN:  I was affiliated with Fancourt for a while. I don't have the affiliation anymore. I used to spend a lot of time around here. A good friend of mine used to be the hotel manager awhile ago, Steven Thielke, and I know a lot of the members and it's a really nice club. It's one of‑‑ I think probably the best golf estate in the world, if you look at it from a facility point of view. It has everything. It's got three driving ranges, it's got three golf courses, it's got ample chipping greens and putting greens. It really is a golfing mecca of South Africa, and it's a beautiful estate. So we used to come down here on holiday with my parents, and I would come and spend quite a bit of time practicing here and playing a bit of golf. So that's where the association came from. Originally I'm from Johannesburg. Q. Where are you associated now? THOMAS AIKEN:  I'm playing out of Johannesburg Country Club, and I don't get to go there much. I actually live in the Bahamas at the moment but come back here at this time of the year and spend time with my parents, between Joburg and down here. So wherever they are, we come and visit. Q. How was your holiday, and you're looking forward to something very important in the next few weeks or so? THOMAS AIKEN:  Well, my holiday was short. Went up to the bush.  Spent ten days in Ingwelala, game reserve in the Timbavati, and the thing that I'm probably looking forward to is my wedding in June. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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