Took up the game at age 4 when he went out with his grandmother to play one day. Comes from a sporting family, with his father involved in motor racing, his mother an ice-skater and sister, Farrah, one of the top squash players in South Africa.

He became the first South African amateur to win both the junior and senior National Stroke Play and Match Play titles. before earning his European Tour card at the 2002 Qualifying School.