FEATURE: From battling depression to European Tour winner again for SA’s Burmester

From depression to European Tour winner again

JOHANNESBURG, May 4 (ANA) – At the beginning of 2019, South Africa’s Dean Burmester was fresh off playing his first-ever major and had the world golfing fairways at his feet – when he first realised he was battling depression.

Burmester played, made the cut, and finished 56th at the US Open in 2018 which showed he belonged among the world’s elite golfers. Just over a year prior, he had claimed his first European Tour win, on home soil, at the Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club. His career was on an upward trend which reflected his world ranking rising to inside the top-100 – and yet he did not realise he was headed for a dark place.

Touted as a rising star in SA golf for many years, the big-hitting Burmester was expected to win again soon – but that didn’t happen.

In an interview with Compleat Golfer in June 2020, Burmester revealed his struggles: “I mean, being inside the ropes, I can truly tell you that I’m one that’s gone through depression on the golf front. It really struck me at the beginning of last year, that first three or four months, you know, at the end of April I pretty much stepped out on the golf course not kind of not even knowing why I was playing golf.

“And this was coming off one of the best seasons I’d had, playing my first Major and making the cut in the major, and some really cool things, but for some reason I found myself in this funk.”

In mid-January last year, Burmester had slipped to 257th in the world. But it was at that point that he realised what was going on – and that he had been grappling with depression. That admission, turned out to be the key in finding his purpose in golf, and life, and the results would start to come even as the world battled the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I think I’d put myself under pressure and that kind of translated into stuff that I couldn’t control, you know, though in my head that were, looking back, just ridiculous. And now being able to have worked through all those things, I kind of feel like I’ve grown up.”

As his world ranking fell to a four-year low, Burmester finished third at the Dubai Desert Classic which saw him rise 83 places to 174th in February 2020. The 31-year-old Burmester would go on to wrack up four top-10s that year to begin 2021 ranked 182nd in the world.

On Sunday, his long-awaited second European Tour win finally came, in emphatic fashion with a final round nine-under 62 to triumph by five, at the Tenerife Open to go with his seven Sunshine Tour titles.

“It was relief and joy I think. It was relief because it was four years of hard work, and now I can celebrate,” said Burmester afterwards.

Relief indeed, as Burmester is once more on the verge of breaking into the top-100 with his current world ranking of 107th. And now with the wisdom to go with his prodigious talent, he may just be able to see a clearer path towards happiness – which could well include picking up a few more trophies in the process.

“Hopefully I can go from strength to strength now and that’ll be my plan, I won’t stop working hard and trying to get better.” – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman