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ONE of Zimbabwe’s top professional golfers Robson Chinhoi basked in glory on Sunday when he was crowned the Tusker Malt Lager Uganda Professionals Open Champion after an impressive 15-under at Kitante in Kampala, Uganda.
Chinhoi emerged the best in the 2020 Uganda Professional Golfer Open Championship held at the par 72 Uganda Golf Open.
Chinhoi pocketed Shs25 000 000, a lion’s share of Shs100 000 000 total prize money staked by the sponsors for winning the 2020 Uganda Golf Professionals Open.
The long hitting pro golfer scored a total of 273 over four rounds of competitive action.
Chinhoi scored 1-under 71 on the opening round, the second best score on day one after Deo Akope’s 2-under 70.
He bettered the scores on day two with 6-under 66 on the second round.
This was the best in the championship, the same as Kenyan Chege Njoroge who was also 6-under on the final round.
Uganda’s Akope took second place with round scores of 70, 74, 70 and 69 for a total of 283.
Njoroge was 2 strokes behind Akope to finish in the third place.
By and large, 35 professionals made the treasured cut that was confirmed after round two.
Chinhoi (29), a member of Royal Harare, represented Zimbabwe at amateur level and is now plying his trade on the East African Safari Tour where he is making waves after winning the 2019 Castle Lite-sponsored Entebbe Golf Open in Uganda.
He was joined by 10 other locals on the Safari Tour as they seek game-time away from home and he stole the limelight from his fellow Zimbabwean golfers by emerging as the champion on Sunday.
Chinhoi was looking for a second win on the Safari Tour this year after he also bagged the Royal Nairobi Golf Club leg in Kenya in October.
The win on Sunday saw the Zimbabwean picking up 75 Tour points.
The Uganda Open is the fifth in a series of tournaments that will constitute 2020/21 Safari Tour, which will see golfers play in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, culminating with the 2021 Magical Kenya Open to be hosted at the Karen Country Club in March next year.
Chinhoi came into the weekend’s tournament with several top 10 finishes on the 2021 Safari Tour, the sole professional tour in East Africa, including winning the second leg at Royal Nairobi.
Also joining his countrymen on the podium was Nyasha Muyambo who finished on position 12 after rounds of 73, 77, 69, 77 for a total 296.
Meanwhile, Scott Vincent and Ben Follet-Smith were placed sixth and 25th respectively at the South African Open at the Gary Player Golf Course in Sun City, South Africa, on Sunday.
Vincent has proved that he is in good form as he carded rounds of 72, 69, 67 and 72 for a total eight under to finish tied for sixth place.
The top professional was joint with South African Hennie du Plesis and Belgian Marcel Siem as they pocketed R523 080 each.
Follet-Smith, on the other hand, managed to make his second successive cut and was tied on position 25 together with amateur Casey Jarvis, David Law, Richard Sterne, Jacques Kruyswijk and Rob Korb as they each went home R168 257 richer.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout added his name to the greats of South African golfers as he claimed a five-shot victory in the South African Open at the Gary Player Country Club on Sunday.
Bezuidenhout signed for a final round of 69 to win on 18 under par, with Jamie Donaldson taking second place on 13 under par after also closing with a 69. Dylan Frittelli was third on 11 under with his final round of 71.
The win earned Bezuidenhout back-to-back victories on the Sunshine Tour and European Tour following his triumph in last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.
The South African Open Championship is one of the oldest national Open golf championships in the world, having first been played in 1903, and is one of the principal tournaments on the Sunshine Tour.
Since 1997 it has also been co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
From 1999 to 2016, the tournament was the Sunshine Tour’s flagship event for the purposes of the official world golf rankings, earning a minimum of 32 OWGR points for the winner.
It was replaced as the flagship event for 2017 by the Alfred Dunhill Championship before regaining its status the following year.
This year, the Alfred Dunhill Championship once again replaced the South African Open as the tour’s flagship event.
Uganda Open full leaderboard (All professionals who made the cut)
1- Robson Chinhoi (Zimbabwe): 71, 66, 69, 67 – 273
2- Deo Akope (Uganda): 70, 74,70, 69 – 283
3 – Chege Njoroge (Kenya): 73, 71, 75, 66 – 285
4 – Muthiya Madalitso (Zambia): 71, 74, 71, 70 – 286
5 – Phillip Kasozi (Uganda): 73, 72, 68, 74 – 287
6 – Dismas Indiza (Kenya): 74, 72, 71, 71 – 288
7 – Greg Snow (Kenya): 72, 75, 71, 72 – 290
8 – Joshua Seale (South Africa): 74, 74, 77, 66 – 291
9 – Ronald Rugumayo (Uganda): 74, 72, 75, 71 – 292
T10 Eric Obura Ooko (Kenya): 73, 74, 75, 73 – 295
David Wakhu (Kenya): 72, 74, 72, 77 – 295
12 – Nyasha Muyambo (ZImbabwe): 73, 77, 69, 77 – 296
T13 – Kubwa Makokha (Kenya): 78, 73, 74, 72 – 297
Wangai C.J (Kenya): 73, 76, 74, 74 – 297
Martin Ochaya (Uganda): 75, 75, 71, 76 – 297
Robert Happy (Uganda): 71, 79, 70, 77 – 297
17- Matthew Wahome (Kenya): 75, 76, 74, 73 – 298
18- Sondashi Mwalikwa (Zambia): 78, 74, 74, 73 – 299
T19 – David Kamulindwa (Uganda): 75, 77, 75, 73 – 300
Abraham Ainamani (Uganda): 71, 81, 72, 76 – 300
Richard Baguma (Uganda): 72, 77, 74, 77 – 300
T22 – Matthew Omondi (Kenya): 74, 78, 75, 74 – 301
Herman Deco Mutebi (Uganda): 71, 78, 76, 76 – 301
Paul Adams Chidale (Malawi): 75, 76, 71, 79 – 301
25 – Inana Mudanyi (Kenya): 73, 74, 77, 78 – 302
26 – Nelson Mudanyi (Kenya): 75, 73, 73, 82 – 303
T27 – Abbey Bagalana (Uganda): 73, 78, 80, 73 – 304
Willy Gift (Nigeria): 78, 74, 79, 73 – 304
Sydney Wemba (Nigeria): 77, 72, 80, 75 – 304
George Felix (Kenya): 79, 73, 77, 75 – 304
Charamba Tongoona (Zimbabwe): 76, 75, 77, 75- 304
32 – Dennis Anguyo (Uganda): 70, 81, 82, 75- 308
33 – Mike Kisia (Kenya): 75, 71, 86, 77 – 309
34 – Gerald Kabuye (Uganda): 75, 75, 78, 82 – 310
35 – Joseph Mawejje (Uganda): 74, 77, 78, 82 – 311 – Sports Reporter/Kawowo.com
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