Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE’S boys’ and girls’ junior golf teams missed out on qualification for the 2025 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup set for Japan after failing to secure top two finishes at the recently ended All Africa Junior Team Championship held at The Residence in Tunisia.
Zimbabwe finished third in the boys’ competition and fourth in the girls’. Only the top two teams from both championships qualified for the global showpiece.
South Africa won the boys’ event, their 18th consecutive title while Morocco were runners up. In the girls’ competition it was vice-versa with Morocco winning, followed by South Africa. This was the first time that South Africa failed to win the girls’ tournament since its inception in 2017.
Zimbabwe’s boys team, made up of Tanaka Chatora, Thomas Sinclair, Tawana Mangoma and Brydon Amm, finished with a combined team score of 694, 37 shots behind South Africa and 32 behind runners up, Morocco.
Only the three best scores counted from a team of four and Zimbabwe had a first round score of 228 with scores of 72, 76 and 80. In the second round, they had a score of 229 with scores of 75, 77 and 77.
Zimbabwe concluded the tournament with a third round score of 237 comprising 73, 82 and 82.
In the girls’ championship, Zimbabwe finished with an overall gross of 477 where the best two scores counted across three rounds.
In the first round, they carded a score of 168 comprising rounds scores of 82 and 86 and followed it up with a second round 154 made up of scores of 75 and 79. In the third and final round, Zimbabwe carded 155 from scores of 73 and 82.
Despite missing out on qualification, there was a reason to smile for Zimbabwe as 15-year old prodigy Miriam Masiya finished second on the individual leaderboard.
Masiya, in a three-way tie for second, was just two strokes behind Morocco’s Sawssane Melhli who won the individual event. Masiya finished on 14-over-par-230 while Melhli shot 12-over-par-228.
Chatora secured top 10 finish in the boys’ individual leaderboard with a score of 13-over-par-229, 11 behind, winner, Johannes De Bruin of South Africa (two-over-par-par-218)
Zimbabwe boys team at AAJTC
