15th World Military Golf Championships tee off in Victoria Falls

A total of 16 countries are battling it out in the 15th World Military Golf Championships underway in Victoria Falls.
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) is playing host to the tournament that started on Monday with a welcome ceremony by ZDF Commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda and is ending tomorrow.

Nineteen countries had initially shown interest in the tournament being held at Elephant Hills Golf Course before the United States, Ireland and Nigeria pulled out at the last minute.

The games are organised by the International Military Sports Council (CISM), a grouping of 140 world armies including the ZDF.

The CISM which is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, was founded in 1948 and its objective is to promote sporting activities and physical education between defence forces as a means to foster world peace under its motto: “Friendship through sports”.

Zimbabwe won the bid to host the 2024 World Military Golf Championships in Victoria Falls and has been preparing for the week-long tourney with the team getting into camp a week ago.

The participating countries are Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Kazakstan, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Uganda, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Addressing the participants, Sibanda said sport is a tool for peace building.

“We are happy that you have been able to come here and join us for this important tournament as we interact in the spirit of enhancing friendship through sport. I wish you an enjoyable tournament and time to make new friends through sport,” said Sibanda.

He invited players and delegates to sample tourism leisure activities in Victoria Falls. Zimbabwe joined CISM in 1983 and has always played an active role providing support to the military sport environment and technical staff personnel.

A CISM representative said the championships were meant to promote peace through sport. “At this moment Zimbabwe is giving a very important sign of determination, with organisation of this 15th championship.

We are here to witness this historic moment of Zimbabwe hosting the first CISM event in this breathtaking landscape of Victoria Falls. Sport is a very powerful diplomatic tool which can be used everywhere through enthusiasm and passion and impacts integrity and discipline.

Military sport is an international relations opportunity and men in uniform are ambassadors. This is an opportunity to meet new people and learn new cultures,” he said. About 100 golfers and coaches are participating in the tournament and each team has six men and two women players.

The teams are playing off scratch with no handicap so that every player starts at an equal advantage to avoid unfair advantage and a gross score will be recorded on a daily basis until the final day. Prize giving will be tomorrow and to walk away with prizes will be individual winners, best male and female teams and best country.

The winning team will enjoy a Flight of Angels experience, a first time in the history of the championships.
Zimbabwe was scheduled to host the tournament in 2020 after China but because of Covid-19 the tournament was postponed. The US hosted the previous tournament where 16 countries participated.

The tournament is an opportunity to promote sports tourism especially as the Government is also pursuing a renewed agenda of promoting new tourism products including sports tourism.

The tournament fosters peace, friendship and solidarity among nations as soldiers who may have met on the battlefield compete on the sports playing field as it is based on three pillars of sport, education and solidarity. CISM is the second largest multi-discipline sports organisation after the International Olympics Committee, holding more than 20 competitions annually. -@ncubeleon