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Finding the top-ranked OWGR golfers from obscure golf nations

By Mike Randleman

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - MARCH 03: Stuart J Smith of Botswana chips out of the 18th greenside bunker during Day Two of The Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on March 3, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - MARCH 03: Stuart J Smith of Botswana chips out of the 18th greenside bunker during Day Two of The Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on March 3, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /
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PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – MARCH 03: Stuart J Smith of Botswana chips out of the 18th greenside bunker during Day Two of The Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on March 3, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – MARCH 03: Stuart J Smith of Botswana chips out of the 18th greenside bunker during Day Two of The Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on March 3, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /

Botswana

The country of Botswana and the city of Houston, Texas, both populate around 2.3 million.

I think you can guess which one produces more golfers.

Like our pal Mikiel Tchobanian from Armenia in the previous slide, Stuart J. Smith is the only OWGR ranked player from his homeland.

Unlike Tchobanian, Smith is not at the bottom of the food chain. In fact, Smith’s come close to cracking the top 1,000.

Smith’s history in the OWGR rankings goes back to 2012 when he began on the Sunshine Tour. He didn’t feel the warmth of the Sunshine, missing all eight of his cuts that year.

In 2013, he still had his card but missed four more cuts to begin the season. I wonder what was going through his head?

Then there was a breakthrough in September: a T-8 at the Wild Waves Golf Challenge where he fired rounds of 67-67-68. The success clearly got to his head with a couple more MC’s, but he was undeterred. Smith posted a 73rd at the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open and picked up another top 10 at the Nedbank Affinity Cup (T-10).

He made 8 out of 12 cuts on the Sunshine Tour for a solid 2014, but his performance has slipped.

Between the Mena Tour and the Sunshine Tour, he missed 45 of 87 cuts from 2015-2018.

Smith dropped to the Big Easy Tour, which was developed in 2011 by South Africa’s Ernie Els. Smith was a winner in 2018 at Big Easy Challenge 10 – Series. He also had a third-place finish that season, but it wasn’t enough to crack the top five on the money list to earn back his Sunshine Tour card.

He remained on the BET for six starts in 2019 but hasn’t appeared in an OWGR event since Big Easy Challenge 13 – Parkview in October.

Golf Advisor lists 10 courses in Botswana. The country borders Zimbabwe to the west and South Africa to the north, yet the sport hasn’t taken off there as it has with some of its neighbors.

Per the International Golf Federation, A Botswana Golf Union was developed in 1976. It features 1,500 members. Unfortunately, its website appears to have shuttered.

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