The second edition of the National Aids Council (NAC) HIV and Cancer Prevention Drive Pro-AM golf tournament, which was launched at Royal Harare Golf Club on Monday night, will this year include a ladies’ competition at the event.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
With a slight change in name, the country’s second biggest professional tournament tees off on October 3 to conclude on October 6 next week.
Last year, it was held under the banner Revitalisation of HIV and Cancer Prevention Pro-Am Golf Tournament and did not have a competition for lady golfers.
“We invited one of our newest female golfers, Claire Minter, to join last year. It’s a massive opportunity to give the ladies a first shot at playing in our tournament this year,” Zimbabwe Professional Golfers Union president, Gary Thompson told NewsDay Sport.
“How many pro-tournament invite ladies? We did and we will continue that.”
The total professional Prize Fund has been increased from $30 000 to $35 000 this year with the introduction of the ladies’ event. Top Sunshine Tour golfer, Stephen Ferreira won the inaugural event last year.
NAC is going all out this year to use the event to raise funds to purchase about 15 cancer screening machines.
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“The aim of this tournament this year is to raise financial resources to purchase at least 15 mobile cancer testing equipment for rural areas across the country and also to raise awareness and disseminate information on ‘closing the tape’ on HIV and Cancer scourge,” NAC chief executive, Tapiwa Mugure said during the launch.
“The world now faces an increasing threat of non-communicable diseases, including cancer, which kills eight million people per annum. In Zimbabwe alone, over 4 000 new cases are reported every year.
“The major challenge has been lack of cancer screening equipment in rural areas. So there is urgent need to equip rural health centres with these machines. We are looking at raising between $100 000 and $120 000 so that we can ensure that every province has its own machine,” he said.
