Fifty-two players enter Pre-Open Classic

By The NewsDay | Mar. 20, 2013 | 2 Min read

A TOTAL of 52 golfers, including players from neighbouring Botswana and South Africa, have entered the $10 000 Pre-Open Classic which tees off at Royal Harare Golf Club tomorrow, ending on Friday.

SPORTS REPORTER

The 36-hole Pre-Open Classic, being sponsored by the Zimbabwe Open Golf Committee, is the first event on the 2013 Zambezi Tour Golf calendar.

Fittingly named the Pre-Open Classic, the tournament seeks to provide local golfers with much needed preparations ahead of the prestigious Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open set for April 18-21 at the same venue. In a statement yesterday, Tendayi Gwatiringa, the Zambezi Tour’s marketing and communications director, said: “The Pre-Open Classic field will include four amateurs to make a total of 52 players.

“Preparations are at an advanced stage and the local professionals are raring to go and use this event as a warm-up for the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open to be held next month.”

The draw for the tournament was expected to take place yesterday ahead of tomorrow’s tee off.

Ryan Cairns, Zimbabwe’s leading player on the Sunshine Tour, will feature in the Pre-Open Classic together with Tongo Charamba, Ignatius Mketekete and Brian Gondo. They will be some of the favourites to win the tournament.

Some of the foreign players in the 48-member professional field include Johwa Trevor from Botswana and the South Africa pair of Irvin Mazibuko and TJ Bekker.

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With R1, 65 million just around the corner, the Pre-Open Classic will give local golfers a chance to familiarise with the Royal Harare Golf Club course.

Local golfers have in the past attributed their poor showing in the flagship Zimbabwe Open to lack of competitive tournaments before the Sunshine Tour-sanctioned event.

No local golfer has managed to win the Open since 2000 when Mark McNulty, now a naturalised Irishman, finished on top of the leaderboard.