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Sports Reporter
The Zimbabwean leg of the Sunshine Tour begins on Sunday with the opening round of the R2.2 million FBC Zimbabwe Open at Royal Harare Golf Club.
There are 155 golfers teeing it up at the pristine par 72 and 7,241-yard-long Royal Harare. With many players getting into the groove on their various tours, the FBC Zimbabwe Open has drawn a strong field — including several top players drawn from all over the world.
Zimbabwean brothers, Scott and Kieran Vincent have full confidence tanks ahead of the country’s premier golf event. Returning to their home course at Royal Harare, it is no surprise to see the brothers starting the week as pre-tournament local favorites along with Robson Chinoi, a past winner on the Safari Tour.
With top-tier winners, the course rewards good striking, and South African professional golfer, Neil Schietekat who put up a brilliant performance on the course to win his first Zimbabwe Open title last year said as much when talking about Royal Harare.
“What I’m ultimately saying is well-struck shots are rewarded and poorly struck shots are penalised. And that’s not always the case in links golf.”
Played as a par 72, the scorecard will read 7,242 yards this year which makes it one of the longest scorecard yardage among Safari and Sunshine Tour courses. Off the tee, Royal Harare is wide open and exposed to the elements with a few water hazards in play but the well-placed bunkers will prevent golfers from taking a bomb-and-gouge approach. They are true hazards so many of the holes will force golfers to lay back into the same landing areas and do the heavy lifting with their irons and short game.
Internal out-of-bounds will be a big talking point this week. Deep pot bunkers also guard the green complexes, again putting an emphasis on steady striking. The course is there for the taking if you can avoid the hazards but that is no easy task, especially if Mother Nature decides to blow.
Golfers to Watch
Scott Vincent
Though he has never won the FBC Zimbabwe Open, Scott – who represented Zimbabwe at the 2020 Olympics – has racked up five career wins before joining the LIV Golf League, with his most famous triumph coming in the 2022 International Series in England that preceded LIV Golf’s inaugural event in London. He also won the International Series Order of Merit during the 2022 Asian Tour season to secure playing privileges for the 2023 LIV Golf League. Vincent’s fearlessness and no-nonsense attitude saw his fellow Zimbabweans nickname him “Mhondoro.” The word relates to the lion and guardian spirit of the nation’s Shona tribe and sums up his style of play perfectly.
Kieran Vincent
The younger of the Vincent siblings, Kieran excelled at LIV Golf Promotions, the league’s inaugural three-day showdown in December 2023, to secure one of the three qualifying spots up for grabs through the tournament. The Zimbabwean turned pro in 2022 and played collegiately at Liberty University. He joins his brother, Scott (Iron Heads GC), as the only brother duo in the league.
Robson Chinoi
The former caddie has been a very successful fixture on the Safari Tour where he has won a few events. At last years, FBC Zimbabwe Golf Open, a poor last-round score saw Chinoi drop six bogies as he shot 78 to finish with a total of 290 and a par score of over two. He finished at number 24.
Neil Schietekat
The 2023 FBC Zimbabwe Golf Open winner put up a brilliant performance on the course to win his fourth Sunshine Tour title after being crowned the winner of the 2023 championship. Schietekat recorded a four-shot victory to bag his maiden Zimbabwe Open Championship, which also became his first Sunshine Tour win in five years.
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