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Takudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
GOOD times are set to return at Mabelreign-based Sherwood Golf Club, which some two years ago was under threat to be turned into a residential area.
The recreational facility has been under threat from land barons who wanted to parcel out residential stands since 2018, but the impasse seems to be over after club chairman Bricks Bhomba and some committee members smoked a peace pipe.
Formed in 1961, Sherwood closed its doors for close to three years with only a single bar attendant, Mrs Dalgano and the general manager pulling the strings.
The golf course is now using 13-holes of the 18 after it was once reduced to a nine-hole course with reports that 10 residential stands had been allocated in 2020. Sources at the club, which falls under City of Harare, said there was a court order which prohibited the would be land barons to stop with immediate effect to parcel out stands. As is the case with many golf courses like Warren Hills, Ruwa Country Club and Mount Pleasant Golf Club, golfers can have a sigh of relief as the latter seem to have been pardoned. A source, who spoke to The Herald, said there was an impasse between the committee members and the City Council over the ownership of the land in question.
“I think 2022 will be a different year as there are some developments. The course is now using 13 holes which means there are going to expand as the year progresses.
“The situation was bad and there was no-one who understood what was happening. Golfers had shunned the place as it was no longer conducive yet the club survived on subscriptions paid by members. “We hope everything will be in order ahead of the 2022 golf season such that we can play in the Harare Province A and B League. As for Warren Hills, there was a controversial joint venture between the City of Harare and businessman Kenneth Raydon Sharpe, of Sunshine Development Private Limited.
Sunshine has since approached the High Court to evict current leaseholders Warren Hills Golf Club as it seeks to convert the recreational facility into a residential area.
According to a High Court application filed by Sunshine Developments which is 70 percent controlled by Sharpe, the City of Harare, who had a lease with Warren Hills Golf Club, are no longer the owners of the 80-hectare recreational facility as it was transferred to the joint venture company.
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