Date set for army charities golf tourney

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Harry Allen Golf Club in Bulawayo will play host to the Zimbabwe National Army Charities golf tournament scheduled for September 23.

The tournament organised by the army and Bakers Inn, is expected to draw 30 teams made up of four golfers each, including army commanders and captains of industry.

Spokesperson for the tournament organisers, Lieutenant-Colonel Fabion Chitungo, said they have changed the format from a Four Ball Better Ball to Mexican Hat Ball.

“This year it’s bigger in terms of organisation and prizes for players. Bakers Inn chief executive officer Ngoni Mazango will play alongside ZNA commander Lieutenant-General Philip Valerio Sibanda. Also to make the day interesting, we’re using the Mexican Hat Ball format. This will see golfers choosing to play the best ball in the event that they have a stray shot. They can pick their ball and start from a best ball. That way, participants will have more time to interact,” Chitungo said.

He said 20 teams (80 players) had registered for the tournament.

Chitungo said proceeds from next weekend’s fundraising tournament will be channelled to army charities.

“Everything is going to the charities and we recently completed a state-of-the-art science laboratory at Induna High School at a cost of $375 000. We will also be building a secondary school in Mbalabala using proceeds from such charity events,” said Chitungo.

The ZNA charities are Tsanga Lodge Convalescent Centre in Nyanga for the rehabilitation of injured soldiers; the Benevolence Fund for the welfare of troops on internal, external and international operations, ZNA Schools Welfare Trust, which has a total of 12 primary and five secondary schools as well as the Widows and Orphans’ Fund that takes care of widows of soldiers before they receive terminal benefits.

Besides the golf tournament, the army also runs a football tournament as well as a horse racing event as part of its fund-raising activities.

Caps United won the 2017 ZNA Charity Shield in March when they beat Highlanders 3-2 in a penalty shootout in Bulawayo after the game had ended 0-0. – @ZililoR.