TONGAAT Hulett Zimbabwe has pledged to elevate the Lowveld ProAm to even greater heights in the coming years following the highly successful conclusion of the tournament at Hippo Valley Estates Golf Course on Sunday.
The tournament, which was co-hosted by Triangle Golf Club and Hippo Valley Estates, culminated in a spectacular victory for local golf sensation Stuart Krog.
Zimbabwean golfer Stuart Krog continued his blazing hot streak by clinching the 2026 Lowveld ProAm title by a commanding six strokes.
The in-form 30-year-old carded a final-round two-under-par 70 to finish on an impressive 15-under-par 201, securing a US$10 000 winner’s cheque.
This victory marks Krog’s second title in just three appearances, coming hot on the heels of his Mopani Zambia Open triumph a fortnight ago.
Krog laid a flawless foundation earlier in the week with rounds of 68 and a sensational 63.
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Portugal’s Stephen Ferreira (who shot a brilliant final-round 68) and Zambia’s Sydney Wemba finished tied for second at 9-under-par.
Local favourite Visitor Mapwanya finished solo fourth at 7-under-par, while Robson Chinhoi rounded out the top five at 4-under-par.
Among the amateurs, young Vincent Chidambazina emerged as the highest-placed amateur, finishing 9th overall at 1-under-par.
Bigger and Better: Tongaat Hulett’s vision
Main sponsors Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe, alongside several corporate partners, poured US$60 000 into the tournament, which beautifully coincided
with the Hippo Valley Estates 70th Anniversary celebrations.
Speaking on the future of the event, Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe head of corporate and industry affairs Dahlia Garwe revealed ambitious plans to grow the tournament so that it rivals the country’s flagship golf event, the Zimbabwe Open.
“It’s continuing. We’re not going to stop. As I said to you, the future is bright,” Garwe stated.
“So this is probably the third one that we’ve held. So next year, we’re having another one around this time again. And this will definitely become a permanent feature on the golf calendar.”
She added: “So what this tells us is, although this is still a young tournament... it is coming up as a real fixture in the golf world.
“So we are expecting that this will continue to grow and that it will become, well okay, perhaps not as big as the Zim Open, but certainly very close.”
The tournament enjoyed massive backing from corporate heavyweights including Stanbic Bank, CP Chemicals, Speedlink Cargo, Natpak, Castrol Lube, CBZ, CABS, Amcott Moonlight, Agricura, Minerva, Econet Zimbabwe, Fleck Auto and South Eastern Transporters.
Garwe expressed her delight at the overwhelming corporate response.
“Do you know that I was amazed that we had so many people that came on board?
“We certainly were expecting one or two people to come in and help us with this tournament, but what we have seen today is amazing.
“And we really encourage other corporates to join us, partner with us and make this thing the most amazing that there is.”
Demonstrating their commitment to the growth of the sport, Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe also donated US$2 000 to the Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) for junior development programmes.
Garwe emphasised the importance of nurturing young talent to sustain the sport locally and internationally.
“Yeah, so we’re really talking about a pipeline of talent here.
“You have great golfers at the moment, but if you don’t continue to feed that pipeline, at some point it will dry up and there will be no professional golfers and there will be no good golfers left.
“So what we’re trying to do here is to ensure that we keep on developing young talent, make sure that there is an outlet of talent and that it remains local.
“And continues to be Zimbabwean talent that can compete anywhere in the world. So that’s the idea behind it.”
The tournament also served as a centrepiece for the 70th Anniversary celebrations of Hippo Valley Estates.
While the sporting action has concluded, Garwe noted that the celebrations are far from over.
“Well, as far as the celebrations themselves are concerned, today probably marks the last big event.
“However, we are expecting to have documentaries, we’re going to have TV programmes, we intend to continue to talk about it for the rest of the year.
“Because you know, we’re going to be 70 for a full year and we’ve only done a few months. So yes, there will be more and more that will be coming, but not as big as this.”