Chronicle Editor
Harare Bureau
SEASONED Sunshine Tour campaigners Ignatius Mketekete, Mohammad Mandhu, Greg Bentley and Nyasha Muyambo tried to book a place in the Jo’burg Open golf tournament at Ruimsig Country Club in Johannesburg, South Africa, without success yesterday.
The four were part of the field that teed off in the pre-qualifiers of the R16.5 million, Sunshine Tour event, the third before the curtain comes down on the golfing season.
Mketekete who has not been active on both the local and Sunshine Tour returned and failed to make it through the qualifiers after he got an invite as a tour member.
The Zvishavane-born professional had a bad round of two-over which saw him on position 46 with only the top 10 players expected to join tomorrow’s final field.
Mandhu and Bentley were on four-over after the single round while Muyambo who has not been getting a lot of game time had a seven over.
Benjamin Follet-Smith, Scott Vincent, Mark Williams, Ryan Cairns and Marc Cayeux will be some of the players who will take to the field in tomorrow’s opening round of the prestigious tournament.
Sipho Bujela playing at his home-town saw the prospect of playing in the oldest championship, gave him the pressure and he shot a five-under-par 67 qualifying round to earn a spot at this week’s Jo’burg Open at Randpark Golf Club. Bujela’s 67 placed him in a share of the first spot with Matthew Spacey, Jake Redman and Irvin Mazibuko and thereby guaranteeing him another opportunity to shine in front of his home crowds.
Bongani Moyo
Online Reporter