adminTakudzwa Chitsiga Harare Bureau
THE countdown for the 2016 edition of the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open is now underway as the flagship golf tournament will be launched in the capital this morning. The event is scheduled to take place at Royal Harare Golf Club from April 14-17. After slightly increasing the sponsorship package with the winners’ purse from R1,6 million in 2013 to R1,8 million in 2014 there is likely to be no other increase this year.
Meanwhile the All Africa Challenge Trophy (AACT) captain Batsirai Tilowakuti is confident that they will do well at the event that will begin tomorrow at the Citrus Golf Course in Hammamet in Tunisia.
The four member team left the country on Saturday and is comprised of Tilowakuti, Danielle Bekker and Emily Jones all playing off four handicap while Cath Riley is the coach.
Tilowakuti of Borrowdale Brooke said she is happy to be leading the juniors after breaking into the national team in 2011.
“It’s an honour to be the national team captain and after several years in the team I feel greatly honoured and I hope we’re going to do well at the event.
“I’ve been working hard in the past and the inclusion of juniors is a good step since they were playing in South Africa in the past week.
“I’m very confident of the young players as they’ve participated in many competitive events,” said Tilowakuti.
The tournament was first launched in 1992 and is a biennial continental ladies golf championship for countries from all over Africa and it normally attracts teams from at least 20 countries.
The event has historically been dominated by South Africa – in the most recent AACT in Kenya in 2014 South Africa were again victorious – and Kenya came second beating Tanzania by a narrow margin.
This year, the Tournament is being hosted by the Tunisian Golf Federation in Tunisia. Each country is represented by three players and a coach.
The AACT uses Eisenhower scoring and the best two scores per round count towards the overall trophy.
Trophies are also awarded to the best individual player and the best junior lady golfer.
The Zimbabwe team will also have an opportunity to participate in the Tunis Open Ladies Golf Tournament which takes place on Sunday 10th and Monday April 11, 2016 before they return to Zimbabwe on Tuesday April 12, 2016.
derick.khumalo