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CHARLOTTESVILLE. — The first home event for the University of Virginia (UVA) men’s golf team in more than a decade bears the name of the late Lewis Chitengwa, and that’s a fitting honour.
Chitengwa, who died tragically of meningococcal meningitis in June 2001 at the age of 26, was a pioneer in the Cavaliers’ programme.
A native of Zimbabwe, Chitengwa was the first black golfer on the men’s team at UVA, where he played for head coach Mike Moraghan.
During his four years in the programme, Chitengwa recorded 17 top-10 finishes, with two victories, and twice was named an All-American. He was the ACC’s rookie of the year in 1995 and as a sophomore placed seventh at the NCAA Championships, then the best finish by a Cavalier in a half-century.
Chitengwa, who graduated from the University in 1998 with a degree in African American Studies, also was a team captain who earned widespread admiration, on Grounds and off.
“He was humble, he was appreciative, he was focused, he was determined,” recalled Moraghan, who’s now the executive director of the Connecticut State Golf Association.
“He never said a bad word about anybody. He never complained about anything. He took full advantage of opportunities that were presented to him, and did it with enthusiasm, and he went out of his way to thank everybody who helped him along the way. And so he was just different than most college kids, who often times can find something to complain about. He was just a refreshing personality, and people would fall in love with him.”
Chitengwa first gained acclaim in December 1992, when he defeated Tiger Woods by three strokes to win the Orange Bowl Junior Championship in Coral Gables, Florida.
“It was unheard of for anybody to beat Tiger at that time,” Moraghan said. “Tiger was not only the best junior golfer in the world, he was the best junior golfer in history. So that was a huge deal, and that kind of got Lewis on the map. And then people started to discover he already had a really impressive career in Zimbabwe and traveling around the world.”
Chitengwa, who enrolled at UVA in 1994, had “played competitively in some significant amateur and junior amateur events on five different continents,” Moraghan said. “He played in Japan, he played all over Africa, he played in Europe, he played in the United States, and he played in Australia, and all before he was 18 years old. So he was a world traveller who had represented Zimbabwe, both for their junior teams and their men’s teams, and was just extraordinary as a player.”
His most memorable victory came in 1993, when Chitengwa became the first black golfer to win the South Africa Amateur. — VirginiaSports.com
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