There was a note on my desk at the office … please phone a Dr Kramer, and here’s his number. Well, I did call and the gentleman in question turns out to be Dr Herbie Kramer, who I discovered has for many years been an eminent Johannesburg gynaecologist.
He tells me he’s 88, still practising and “working like a slave” at Brenthurst Clinic. Still practising? At 88? But Kramer, who sounds very friendly and enthusiastic about life, assures me he only consults these days.
During the conversation, it emerges that one of Kramer’s what you might call “specialities” years ago was delivering the babies of the wives of prominent sportsmen, golfers among them.
In fact, it was Kramer who facilitated the entry into this world of the various offspring of the famous Henning brothers – Harold, Graham and Allan. Harold was a close friend of his and he supported him on tour in the days when he – the doctor – was “a rich bachelor”.
It turns out that Kramer is the ultimate sports nut.
“I’m glued to the box,” he confesses, “and I never missed a ball that was hit in the Masters.”
And it’s the Masters, and Charl Schwartzel’s brilliant victory at Augusta a fortnight ago, that is at the heart of our little chat.
The doctor says he’s “a fanatic about genes” and the part they play in our lives. What he is itching to point out is that while Charl’s father George was and still is a very fine golfer who had a distinguished amateur career and spent a few years in the pro ranks before being reinstated, it was also the Masters champion’s grandfather, Charlie Schwartzel, who contributed to Charl’s gene pool.
I knew nothing of Charlie but this veteran medical man says he was a very fine boxer who earned a Full Blue while completing a mechanical engineering degree at Wits University and also excelled in other sports.
“Ask George, he’ll tell you …”
Well, I did phone George and he confirmed all that Kramer had said.
“My father was a fantastic sportsman, and fighting as a boxer in the middleweight division lost only one fight in 18 years.
“When he served in World War II, there was a tournament for the Allied Forces and he beat the guy who would go on to be world champion.
“He also played cricket with the Rowans (Athol and Eric, who both represented South Africa) and was very good at tennis and soccer.”
So there we have it. If we are to believe the good doctor, while Charl’s play under pressure was so magnificent, perhaps he did get a bit of help from his dad and his granddad, who died when Charl was just six and who surely today has a big smile on his face somewhere up in the heavens.
Of course, as Kramer explained, good genes don’t guarantee success.
“Harold Henning was a born golfer. He could have played cricket for South Africa if he’d put his mind to it.
“Yet his son Harley tried golf, too, but just couldn’t make the grade and he’s now selling boats in America.”
I asked him about Gary Player and suggested that his good golfing genes were handed on to his son, Wayne, who earned SA colours as an amateur before trying pro golf, although without too much success.
Kramer dismisses this theory.
Gary didn’t have good golfing genes, he reasons – he just worked bloody hard. And, he argues, Wayne wasn’t such a good golfer anyway.
That reminds me of a line Dale Hayes uses when he takes off golfers, which is one of his delights.
On Gary: “My son, Wayne, is one of the best golfers in the country! Maybe not in the city, but definitely in the country!”
Gary, Wayne, no disrespect. But it is quite funny.