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ZIMBABWEAN golfer Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa has been named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Golfer of the Week in the United States.
The first-year player with the Drexel Dragons earned medallist honours at the Yale Spring Invitational last weekend in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Drexel Dragons are the athletic teams of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Nyamukondiwa, a transfer from West Texas, shot three-under par 137 in the one-day, 36-hole event. He fired a three-under par 67 in the afternoon after shooting even par in the morning round.
It was his first tournament win at Drexel. Nyamukondiwa had six birdies in his second round on his way to a career-best round. He led all players in the field with eight birdies overall. Nyamukondiwa and his Drexel teammates head to Dataw Island this weekend where they begin their quest for a CAA championship.
The team was scheduled to play at the University of South Carolina Beaufort yesterday before opening the CAA Championships on Sunday.
Nyamukondiwa came to Drexel after attending Western Texas College in Synder, Texas where he earned selection in the all-conference team.
Prior to moving to the US, he graduated from Heritage High School in Harare, Zimbabwe.
He won the Zimbabwe Junior Strokeplay Championship and was a four-year captain on the Zimbabwean Junior Golf Team.
Nyamukondiwa represented the Zimbabwe junior golf team at the Toyota Junior World Cup and also played on the amateur national team for two years.
Meanwhile, teenage golf starlet Keegan Shutt has been confirmed as Zimbabwe’s representative at this year’s edition of the prestigious R&A Junior Open Championship.
The biennial precursor to the year’s third major, The Open, the R&A Junior Open, attracts the world’s top junior golfers.
The confirmation of Shutt’s participation in the R&A Junior Open Championship comes barely a few days after he clinched the biggest win on the local amateur golf circuit at the Harare Amateur Championship at Police Golf Club last weekend.
The 15 year-old rising star showed maturity beyond his years as he posted rounds of 77, 72, 72, and 72 for a total five of 293.
He finished four strokes ahead of his Chapman Golf Club mate Rasheed Mohammed who carded scores for 76, 71, 78 and 72 to finish second on a total of 297.
Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) president, Martin Chikwana, was impressed with Shutt’s consistency during the high profile amateur golf tournament which attracted a big field of 130 players.
“I’m very happy for Keegan, for a young man of just 15 years-old he played with maturity beyond his years throughout the three days,” Chikwana said in an interview with Zim Sport Live.
“I think the cherry on the top is that he is now being ranked on the World Amateur Golf Ranking and as he continues to play and improve his position will also improve. I’m also happy to announce that Keegan will be representing Zimbabwe at the Junior Open in Scotland.
“We have successfully submitted his entry and they have accepted it. So that’s another important event that Keegan is going to be partaking in and hopefully it goes a long way in building his career,” Chikwana said.
The R&A Junior Open Championship came under The R&A’s administrative umbrella in 2000, having been founded in 1994.
The biennial event, to which all golfing nations affiliated to The R&A are invited to enter their best under-16 boy and girl golfers, is closely linked to The Open and is always played on a nearby course.
This year’s edition of the tournament is being staged at Monifieth Golf Links in Scotland from July 11-13.
The venue of the elite junior tourney is just which is just down the road from the Old Course at St Andrews, where the third major of the season will be played from July 14 to 17. — Drexeldragons.com/ZimSportLive.
Online Reporter