Champion Swing: ICS Music Teacher Wins National Ladies Golf Open

By day she guides students through scales and song in her classroom, but last week ICS Golf Coach and Music Teacher Janine Plunkett added a spectacular achievement to her resume as the winner of the first Ethiopian Ladies Golf Open. 

“Much to my surprise, I was announced as the winner. I was really shocked and just very, very excited to be the first winner of this competition. But I more had a sense of such optimism for women’s golf in Ethiopia,” she said.  

In a display of her dedication and love for golf, Janine hopes the win will inspire her students to remain committed to the sport.   

“One of the reasons I love golf so much - and I tell the students - is that it’s a game you can play your whole life. Any other sport, you’d reach a certain age and you can’t compete anymore, but golf, you can keep playing until you’re old,”  she said. 

“It’s really worth putting your time and effort into when you’re young. The effort [the students] are putting in now as young people is something that they will benefit from for their whole lives.” 

Janine is hopeful for the future of women’s golf in Ethiopia and says the competition is just the beginning. She hopes her win will encourage more young girls to take up the sport. 

“It will keep going from strength to strength.” 

This academic year is Janine’s last one at ICS and in Ethiopia. It has already been a memorable year for Janine, with the release of her original single on Spotify, and this win has made her final year even more special. 

“Emotional is the word,” she reflected.  

“To be able to have this trophy, what a thing to have and for the rest of my life and what a beautiful thing to remember playing golf here.” 

“The ladies at the course said you’ve got to come back and defend your title, so I’m hoping I can come back and play in it next year,” Janine said. 

For our students, Janine’s win is a shining example of how her passion and perseverance led to her success on the golf course. 

“It’s an incredibly difficult sport to learn, so it takes dedication. It's a mental challenge as well, you have to think about how you’re going to play your next shot, you have to strategize on the golf course,” 

“I always tell them, 'Stand back and look at the golf course, see what you see, where are the problems.' So it teaches almost a life strategy in a way: You have to plan so that you know how you have to face the next shot.” 

The ICS Golf Team is off to Zambia next week, and Janine joked that her win has given her that extra bit of authority as a coach. 

“I also want them to know that when I tell them, 'This is how you should be swinging the club, this is what’s going wrong,' they can now believe me because they know that I know what I’m talking about.” 

Congratulations Janine on this extraordinary milestone and best of luck to the team in Zambia!