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Takudzwa Chitsiga
Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Professional Golfers Association president Simon Chigorimbo is confident that a local player has a chance to capture the 2023 FCB Zim-Open Championship at Royal Harare early next month.
The FBC Zim-Open Championship returns at the picturesque Royal Harare greens from May 4-7 with a US$150 000 purse.
Chigorimbo is hopeful Zimbabwe will have a local player on the podium, considering the number of tournaments the locals have been participating in.
With several slots for local professionals and five for top amateurs, Zimbabwe has a chance to compete in the country’s flagship golf event.
“I think we have a chance and the guys have been working hard. Since the confirmation of the tournament, everyone has upped their preparations.
“We have players who are capable of competing against the world’s best. It has been a long time since a local player took to the podium on home soil.
“The prize money is lucrative and it will draw a lot of top players, which will make the 2023 edition a competitive one. We have been having some local tournaments and some players taking part in the Sunshine Tour, Safari Tour and the Big Easy Tour. So they are up there.
“It has been long since we had a local player winning the tournament and I am hopeful we will make it this time around,” said Chigorimbo.
The Zimbabwe Open was last won by a local in 2000 when Mark McNulty dominated the prestigious tournament.
The late Anderson Rusike won the inaugural edition of the Zimbabwe Open in 1984 as an amateur.
The Zimbabwe Open was first played in 1984. From 1985 to 1992 it was part of the Safari Circuit, a collection of events in Africa that were played by professionals based on the European Tour during their winter.
In 1991 and 1992, the event was also part of the Challenge Tour before it moved to the First National Bank Tour which was later renamed the Sunshine Tour in 1993.
When it was held in the weeks preceding the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the tournament attracted some of the world’s leading players, as they used it as a warm-up to the big money invitational.
Past winners include major winners Vijay Singh and Nick Price who, along with McNulty, is the most successful player at the event. Both men have recorded three victories apiece.
This year Zimbabwe will look forward to Kieran Vincent who is doing well on the Asian Tour. The young golfer recently won the Vietnam International Series.
Vincent has confirmed his availability for his first ever local tournament after turning professional some two years ago.
Also touted to fly Zimbabwe’s flag high is Robson Chinhoi, Nyasha Muyambo, Visitor Mapwanya, Benjamin Follet-Smith, Ryan Cairns among several others.
Cairns was the highest placed Zimbabwean on the leader-board in a tie for 14th.
South Africa’s Albert Venter will be returning to Zimbabwe this year to defend the title he won last year. The 27-year-old recorded his maiden Sunshine Tour victory after a two-rounds of a sudden-death playoff against compatriots Louis Albertse and Stefan Wears-Taylor.
Online Reporter