ZIMBABWE female professional golfer Rhoda Muridzo is set to break new ground in her golfing career after receiving an invitation to play on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa next season.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Muridzo, who is also the national amateur ladies golf team coach, told NewsDay Sport this week that she was looking forward to the opportunity to showcase her talent on a big stage such as the Sunshine Ladies Tour.
“I’m really excited with the opportunity to showcase my talent at a big stage such as the Sunshine Ladies Tour after receiving an invite for next season which starts in February,” she said.
“As you know, in Zimbabwe there are only three female professional golfers. I’m the only playing professional while Jessie Nyakatawa and Cathy Riley both are mostly teaching professionals, so there are no opportunities to play as compared to our male counterparts, hence my decision to go and play in South Africa,” she said.
Muridzo said the opportunity to compete on the Sunshine Ladies Tour came after she met the president of the Women’s Professional Golf Association of South Africa, Karen Olivant, at the Regional All-Africa Challenge Trophy held in Namibia back in May.
“I was fortunate to meet the Women’s Professional Golf Association of South Africa president in Namibia, where I was the coach of our national amateur ladies team. I told her about my intentions of playing in South Africa again, having previously played there in 2009 and that’s how I got the invitation,” Muridzo said.
The Sunshine Ladies Tour, which kicked off in February 2014 with the support of the South African corporate world, has grown into the premier golf tour for female golfers on the continent.
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Hailing from a golfing family, Muridzo is the sister to the Zimbabwe’s golf prodigy Lewis Muridzo (Jnr), who was posthumously inducted into the Southern Africa Golf Hall of Fame in Cape Town, South Africa, three months ago.
Her father, Lewis (Snr), the veteran Wingate Golf Club professional, is widely regarded as one the country’s finest golf coaches, while her other sibling Farayi is also a winner on the local professional golf circuit, the Zambezi Tour.
Having started to play golf at the age of 10 years, Muridzo first represented Zimbabwe in 1991 at the age of 13 in the regional Gilbertson & Page Trophy competition where Zimbabwe came first.
She went on to represent Zimbabwe at various regional and international competitions as an amateur, winning various accolades before realising her dream of turning professional in 2008.
