Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
CHAPMAN Golf Club’s 19-year-old Vincent Chidambazina, whose surname recalls Cyclone Idai that devastated his Chimanimani village in March 2019 when he was 12, returns to the fairways this weekend for the 2026 edition of the Hillside Masters Golf Championship, which tees off tomorrow at Hillside Golf Club in Mutare.
The Hillside Masters is a premier annual amateur tournament hosted at the scenic 18-hole course in Mutare.
The high-profile event regularly attracts the country’s top amateur and junior golfers.
Chidambazina is no stranger to success at Hillside, having won the 2024 amateur title with rounds of 69, 76 and 76 for a gross total of 221.
Now 20, he has already secured three victories this season on the local amateur circuit — the Midlands Amateur, Masvingo Amateur and PaRuwa Open — adding to honours that include the Manicaland Amateur Championship, Hillside Masters and Matabeleland Amateur Golf Tournament, all won in 2024.
Speaking from his Harare base this week, Chidambazina, said: “It is always special coming back to Hillside Golf Club, my home. I know the course well, but every tournament is different, and you still have to earn every shot. I am pleased with my form this season, winning a few events, and finishing near the top at the Zimbabwe Amateur gave me more confidence. My goal this weekend is to stay patient, trust the work I have been putting in, and give myself a chance to compete on the back nine on Sunday. The field might be strong, so it will be a good test, and I am looking forward to it.”
He honed his skills on a nine-hole course in Chimanimani that was destroyed by Cyclone Idai, and has since risen to become one of the country’s most exciting golf prospects.
Manicaland Golf union president, Caleb Kunze, said the tournament remains a national showpiece.
“This weekend, we are hosting the Hillside Masters at Hillside Golf Club. The Hillside Masters is an annual event and it is a national event in that it attracts all top amateur golfers across the country.
“We have two competitions. The 54-hole contest is for the top amateurs who will be competing for the jacket and the trophy. Then we have the 36-hole competition in the lower division.
“They play 18 holes on Saturday and 18 holes on Sunday. This is going to be a fully packed weekend where we will also be having our own top amateurs like Vincent Chidambazina who has won quite a number of these national competitions. He won in Masvingo and he was the second runner-up at Zim Amateur. We hope he will be able to stand the heat and keep the trophy here in Manicaland.”
Meanwhile, Hillside Golf Club is hosting the Masters following the successful staging of the International Pairs tournament at the same venue.
Itai Mavhera and Keith Muronda finished as joint winners, with Hapson Maphosa and Lawrence ‘Ba Rue’ Mazungunye in second place.
The two leading pairs have qualified to represent Hillside Golf Club at the International Pairs national finals to be held at Harare Country Club on August 22.
