ZIMBABWE’S premier professional golf tour, the Zambezi Tour, makes a return next week with the staging of the Hwange Open scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Hwange Golf Club.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The Hwange Open, one of the biggest tournaments on the local calendar for both professionals and amateurs, will be played over 54 holes with a prize fund of $15 000.
Zambezi Tour marketing and communications director Tendayi Gwatiringa said entries for the Hwange Open would be closing on Monday, with the field set to be confirmed the following day.
“On behalf of the board and management of the Zambezi Tour, I am pleased to advise that the Zambezi Tour will be hosting the 2015 Hwange Open,” he said in a statement.
“The Hwange Open will be held at Hwange Golf Club, Hwange, from October 2-4 2015. It will be played over 54-hole stroke play with a prize fund of $15 000 courtesy of the sponsors Hwange Colliery Company Ltd. Entries for the event close on September 28 after which details of the field will be availed.”
South African golfer Musiwalo Nethunzwi won last year’s edition after a playoff win over local favourite Brian Gondo, who will be aiming to finally go one better this year.
In the amateur category Sherwood Golf Club’s John Milazi won the Hwange Amateur Championship with a score of 235 gross, a shot ahead of second-placed Pride Sembo, who has now joined the professional ranks.
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The Hwange Open will be the first tournament to be held on the Zambezi Tour since the Econet Pro Challenge won by United States-based golfer Scott Vincent on his professional debut in June.
However, despite the three-month break, local professionals have been playing regularly on the developmental PGA Tour of Zimbabwe which should set up some tough competition in the coal-mining town.
The PGA Tour of Zimbabwe, which was designed to complement the Zambezi Tour, has hosted seven two-day events since the tour’s inception two months ago while another tournament will be played at Bindura Golf Club this weekend.
Some of the top local professionals expected to feature at the Hwange Open include Tongoona Charamba, Ignatius Mketekete, Clive Nguru, Gary Thompson and Robson Saurombe, among others.
