ZIMBABWEAN golfer Mark Williams shot his lowest score as a professional, a sizzling 62 to record a season-best second-place finish in the Sun Wild Coast Sun Challenge played out in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa yesterday.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The 31-year-old Bulawayo-born Sunshine Tour professional started the final round tied for 26th position on the leaderboard, but he produced a record-breaking display in his final round to come agonisingly close to recording his maiden Sunshine Tour win.
In the end his 54-hole total of 11-under-par 199 was not enough as he narrowly missed out on the coveted title to South African Vaughn Groenewald, who carded a final round of 67 for a total of 12-under-par 198.
Williams made six birdies include three in succession from the seventh to the ninth hole before managing a further three birdies and his only bogey of the day on the back-nine.
His 62 not only bettered his previous best round of 64, but also equalled the Wild Coast Sun Country Club course record held by South African Brett Liddle.
Meanwhile on the local circuit, the country’s leading amateur golfer Visitor Mapwanya will look to take another giant stride towards winning the Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) Order of Merit title when he tees off Elephant Hills Open at the Elephant Hills Resort in Victoria Falls today.
Mapwanya, who won the Bata Open in Gweru last weekend, leads the ZGA Order of Merit Standings with 294 points ahead of the country’s top junior golfer Kieran Vincent, who is second on 275 points.
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In the absence of his closest pursuer in the resort town, the long-hitting Mapwanya will have an opportunity to increase his 19-point advantage as the season heads for the home stretch.
ZGA development officer told NewsDay Sport that a field of over 60 entries was expected for Elephant Hills Open.
“We have a huge field of over 60 players, which is quite a huge field compared to the recent tournaments, which did not attract many players. The Championship division has close to 30 players, but unfortunately most of the junior players such as Kieran Vincent and David Amm did not travel because there are junior golf tournaments taking place in Harare,” he said.
The 54-hole Elephant Hills Open which has both national and amateur world ranking points will see the players completing 36 holes today before finishing off with the remaining 18 holes tomorrow.
