adminThe year began with the country’s biggest golf event the Zimbabwe Open which draw several top amateur and professionals from across the globe.
Zimbabwe Open was being held for the second successive year after it returned to the radar having been off for close to 11 years.
The tournament was won by South Africa’s Thenius Spangenburg and that opened up the golf season as several high profile tournaments followed up during the year.
Local golfers Bruce Mcdonald and Ignatius Mketekete did well to come out the best among the locals as they settled for a 23rd tie.
Professional golf received a lifeline as a new organising committee of the Zambezi Tour was put in place to look into the affairs of the golfers.
The launch of the Zambezi Tour brought new life to the sport that was struggling for sponsorship as more sponsors came on board with several tournaments.
The year later saw 11 professional tournaments being held and they went on to draw foreign golfers with the attractive purses, which were offered.
Mketekete, however, became the most outstanding golfer of the season as he managed to win four of these tournaments.
Not to be outdone was Brendon de Jonge who is playing in the US PGA tour.
The golfer managed to claim two top 10 finishes and went on to represent the country at the World Cup where Zimbabwe came out on position 11.
The Zimbabwe Ladies Golf Union, then led by Thembi Moyo, did well both locally and internationally as Zimbabwe managed to send a team to the All-Africa Challenge Cup in Abuja, Nigeria.
The union went on to host the Regional All Africa Challenge Cup which was eventually won by South Africa.
However the major highlight of the event was top local woman golfer Claire Minter who won player of the tournament.
Minter led her troops to a second place finish.
The female golfer was also in outstanding form as she managed to win almost every major championship division event she participated in locally. The amateur ranks saw Clive Nguru dominating the
scene with his outstanding performances.
Nguru was the man to beat in all the 12 tournaments hosted as he played the game of his life.
The relocation of Scott Vincent to United States was quickly filled by the golfer who managed to miss four of the last order of merit tournaments but still end the season leading.
Nguru is likely to turn professional this coming year.
Juniors’ duo of Grant Hudson and Bret Krog had a good season but failed to make an impact at the Doral Junior and Orange Bowl International Junior Championships where they are currently participating.
The golfing fraternity had their challenges as well as the amateur team failed to travel outside the country for several events.
Online Reporter