Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo, Zimpapers Sports Hub
FORMER Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) president Martin Chikwana is pleased with the development work he and his team accomplished during his four-year tenure. Chikwana, who took over from Mufaro Chivonivoni in 2021, completed his two terms in July and was succeeded by Blessmore Gandawa.
Reflecting on his time at the helm, Chikwana said he was proud of where Zimbabwean golf stands today. While acknowledging there were areas for improvement, he believes that overall, they made significant progress.
“It was very humbling, and it is a responsibility that I took very seriously.
I really enjoyed being president of ZGA. The evaluation of my work has to come from my peers, but from my perspective, I feel there are certain things that I could have done differently . . . but overall, I gave it my all, which for me was the critical plus,” he said.
Chikwana highlighted several initiatives designed to make golf accessible to all Zimbabweans. His team introduced the “Train the Trainer” programme to reach outlying areas and targeted schoolchildren to foster interest in the sport. However, they soon faced a logistical bottleneck.
“We realised we had challenges because in our desire to introduce the sport to so big a mass, there was a bottleneck.
Eventually, the sport needed to be played at a golf course, and we have 40 courses in the country, and those courses are very sparsely distributed…
We realised quickly that it would be difficult to teach some in rural areas . . . To get those people, it needed serious financial input to achieve that.”
In response, they adapted their strategy to focus on schools closer to existing courses, such as a programme at Nust, which is near the Harry Allen Golf Club.
Chikwana’s tenure also saw a clean financial audit and a significantly improved relationship with the R&A, the world governing body for golf outside the Americas.
This renewed connection, he said, led to immense support for development projects.
He highlighted key initiatives, including a robust High Performance Programme for elite players and the donation of junior equipment to clubs nationwide.
Through the Zimbabwe Open committee, the ZGA was able to collect between 3 000 and 5 000 golf balls annually from professionals to distribute across the country, which went a long way toward introducing the game to a wider audience.
Reflecting on his leadership style, Chikwana said he always focused on the positives, believing that positivity breeds success.
“Those are some of the learnings and solutions that we were able to put together for the benefit of the development of the sport and ensure it continues to be played throughout the country.
I try to concentrate on the positive because positivity breeds success.
We had a lot of success stories. Our relationship with R&A has really grown very big,” he said.
Among the key highlights of his tenure, Chikwana proudly noted the successful hosting of the 2024 All Africa Golf Team Championship (AAGTC) at Bulawayo Golf Club.
He added that as his presidency concluded, Zimbabwe had begun the process of amalgamating all the country’s golf-related organisations into a single association, a move that has the full support of the R&A.
