Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THE year 2025 has started off excellently for Zimbabwean golf, with golfers performing well both on the local and international stages.
On the local circuit, the Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) has already hosted several events, including the traditional season opener, the Dugmore, the Manicaland Amateur, the Julius Robinson, and the Matabeleland Amateur.
Additionally, Zimbabwean players have competed in the GolfRSA International Amateur and the African Amateur Championship.
The Mashonaland West Golf Union (MAWEGU) Amateur, which is taking place at Norton Golf Club, teed off yesterday and concludes today, and will be followed by the Masvingo Amateur at Masvingo Golf Club, scheduled to begin on April 12.
In an interview with Zimpapers Sports Hub during the recently concluded Matabeleland Amateur at Bulawayo Country Club, ZGA president Martin Chikwana expressed his satisfaction with the start of the year and the success of the events thus far.
“So far, 2025 is looking like a very good year. We have hosted several events, covering all four corners of the country, and the participation has been brilliant — it’s been amazing. We are happy with how we’ve started 2025. We still have a few provincial events to go, including Midlands, Masvingo, Mashonaland Central, and Harare,” said Chikwana.
He added: “There are more events coming up, and we hope to continue seeing good involvement in them.”
The Matabeleland Amateur featured a talented field, with a full complement of Zimbabwe’s national teams participating. Keegan Shutt and Miriam Masiya claimed victory in the men’s and women’s championships, respectively.
This was Shutt’s third consecutive win, having previously triumphed at the Julius Robinson and Manicaland Amateur, while Masiya also claimed victory in the Manicaland Amateur.
Chikwana stressed the importance of providing players with as much competitive play as possible, as it plays a vital role in their development. He was particularly pleased with how the players performed on the challenging Bulawayo Country Club course.
“It’s very critical for players to take part in these local events. Game time is crucial in any sport, and when it comes to high-level competition, as we saw this past weekend and in Manicaland, the competition is tough. You can see with the scores, the course is drying up a bit, the greens were slightly dry which sort of asked some questions to the players on their ability to manage conditions.
“I am glad to see that the scores reflected how difficult the course was and the fact that they came out with under-par scores shows that they were able to apply themselves to the difficult conditions which they participated in,” said Chikwana.
Chikwana also highlighted the importance of hosting tournaments across different parts of the country, which helps players improve by learning to adapt to varying conditions.
“This is the reason why we play in all these different courses throughout the country — to ensure that players are subjected to different playing conditions on different courses in different parts of the country. It’s all those conditions and experiences that they have when playing in those conditions that actually make them better players because it says to them, can you adjust your game to suit the conditions that have been set up by the greenskeeper.
“So, those questions, when they answer them in the manner that they did this weekend, we are happy and hopefully, they can continue to apply themselves and practise a lot more as they prepare for their ascendency into the rest of the region, into the rest of Africa, and hopefully into Singapore for the World Championships,” he said. – @brandon_malvin
