Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
THE year 2024 was a roller-coaster ride for Zimbabwean golf, marked by numerous highs and lows in what was a busy campaign. The season kicked off with the Dugmore and Fellowship tournament at Bulawayo Golf Club in January and concluded with the Zimbabwe Matchplay at ZRP Golf Club in Harare last weekend.
Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) president Martin Chikwana took time to reflect on the eventful year, both on the local fairways and the international scene. The year was a good one for golf, with players demonstrating immense skill.
As early as February, Zimbabwean golf made headlines when Keegan Shutt broke the course record at Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa during the inaugural Africa Amateur Championship. Shutt sent records tumbling with a brilliant 10-under-par 62, while teammate Matthew Bramford secured a fourth-place finish, flying the Zimbabwean flag high. This early success hinted at a promising year ahead.
“Finishing right up there with the best in Africa was commendable, and we were quite happy with this performance. Also, in that same event, Keegan Shutt shot a record-breaking 62 strokes, which is 10 under par at Leopard Creek. He went into the record books at Leopard Creek, and it’s a feat that we need to celebrate because those kinds of feats don’t normally happen. So it was one of those things that we are really happy about,” said Chikwana.
All the events on the 2024 ZGA calendar were completed without any disturbances, and the major highlight on the local scene was the return of the country’s second biggest event, the Lowveld Pro-Am, which came back after a hiatus of close to a decade.
“Back home, we managed to ensure that all the events on the calendar took place and were successfully hosted by the different provinces. High on that highlight list is a new event, in fact, it’s an old event that has been resuscitated — the Lowveld Pro-Am. It is the second biggest sponsorship on our calendar, with Tongaat Huletts sponsoring the event to the tune of US$60 000.
“Going forward, it’s an event that will be on our calendar, and we’re quite happy with that. Another major highlight was the Mashwede Open, hosted by Falcon Golf Club in Harare. It’s another major event that both amateurs and professionals participate in. We were quite happy with the way we managed our events on our calendar,” Chikwana said.
Away from the fairways and the putting greens, there were several programmes aimed at fostering the growth and development of the game. Working with the R&A — the world governing body of golf outside the Americas — Zimbabwe received assistance in the form of equipment, golf bags for the High-Performance Programme, among others. Additionally, the ZGA received more consignments of golf clubs, which were distributed to golf clubs across the country.
Each club is set to receive two golf sets: one for use by juniors and some extra clubs that will be given to those who struggle for equipment but would still like to play golf.
“We are going to try and ensure that we distribute a few sets, and we’re grateful to the R&A for their support. Our major sponsors, FBC and Delta, also came on board, and we have acquired some sets of clubs which we’ve distributed to clubs throughout the country. These are some of our collaborations and partnerships that we’ve enjoyed throughout the year.
“As part of the development programmes, we successfully hosted the first-ever Level One PGA training, which is a programme aimed at capacitating coaches who want to impart the required knowledge from a qualified standpoint,” said Chikwana.
A total of 18 coaches underwent the PGA training programme, courtesy of a grant from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Golf Federation, the R&A, the South African Professional Golf Federation, and the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee.
ZGA managed to train Level One PGA coaches drawn from across the country. After their assessments next year, a Level Two course will be launched in order to fully capacitate the coaches. The course was conducted by certified PGA professional of South Africa and educator Dingaan Kelvin Chirwa.
Chikwana said this is to ensure that upcoming golfers are equipped with valuable knowledge.
“We want to ensure that we capacitate our coaches so that the knowledge they pass on to our amateurs or anyone who needs to learn golf for the first time is valuable and can be appreciated by everyone.
“Beyond that, we were also able to do rules training, with support from the R&A. We trained 32 Level One rules officials, and these officials are now certified at Level One. In their bid to become Level Two officials — the higher level — in the country, we currently have around five Level Three rules officials, and a considerable number at Level Two. Of the 32 who showed interest in upgrading to Level Two, 17 of them successfully did so, which is quite a good pass rate,” he said
One of the major highlights for Zimbabwean golf in 2024 was hosting the All Africa Golf Team Championship (AAGTC). The biennial continental tournament, the biggest amateur golf event in the region, was hosted at Bulawayo Golf Club.
“What made it so special was that we hosted it outside our capital city, meaning we managed to expose a golf club outside Harare — Bulawayo Golf Club. Bulawayo Golf Club is the oldest golf club in the entire country, and in fact, in Southern Africa. Hosting this event at BGC ensured that we not only showcased other beautiful golf courses throughout the country but also reminded people of our golf clubs’ historical significance and beauty,” said Chikwana.
It was a successfully hosted event, and Chikwana revealed that they believe everyone who took part will share fond memories with their countries, relatives, and friends about the hospitality they received, the beauty of the Zimbabwean people, and how they related with the community from Matabeleland.
“So, it was a major highlight, and we’re quite happy with what we managed to do. Hopefully, should we be asked again, we’ll do an even better job given how big this event turned out to be,” he said.
The year did come with some challenges. One of them was Zimbabwe’s unsuccessful bid to dethrone South Africa as the kings of African golf.
The two countries competed in three tournaments: the All Africa Junior Golf Team Championship, Region Five, and the AAGTC, with South Africa coming out on top in all of them.
There were lessons to be learned for Zimbabwe.
“I’m sure the experiences the juniors gained will be invaluable as they continue to mature as golfers. We did very well, but unfortunately, we never managed to go over the line. I know the boys gave it everything, but unfortunately, it wasn’t to be,” said Chikwana.
With the 2024 season completed, the ZGA has its sights set on continuing with its development programmes as they look towards 2025, seeking to take the sport to even higher levels.
“As we plan for next year, we hope to put in more effort into preparing our youngsters and teams. We will continue investing in our national team, and we have appointed a national coach who is now responsible for the High-Performance Programme we’re running in conjunction with the rest of Africa as well as the R&A.
“In this programme, our coach will continue to be capacitated, and hopefully, as we gain more knowledge, skills, and value, we will, with time, be able to produce some of the greats we have been renowned for producing in the past. So yes, it was a mixed year for us; we had some successes and some not-so-good events. But we are happy, and we hope that 2025 will be a better year for golf in the country,” said Chikwana.
The 2025 calendar of events is yet to be released.–@brandon_malvin
derick.khumalo