Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
THE second edition of the Africa Amateur Championship at the prestigious Leopard Creek Golf Course further solidified Zimbabwe’s position as a continental golfing powerhouse.
Zimbabwe was represented by 11 golfers at the event, including eight male and three female players. While the country did not bring home the trophy, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate, with Zimbabwe’s golfers delivering solid performances across the board.
Four of the eight male players made the cut, with Keegan Shutt finishing in an impressive second place, just two shots behind winner Bryan Newman from South Africa. Tanaka Chatora finished tied for 16th, while Michael Wallace and Darlington Chikanyambidze were tied for 28th and 29th, respectively.
Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) president Martin Chikwana attributed the strong showing to the hard work being done behind the scenes, though he noted there is still room for improvement.
The results follow a fair performance at last year’s All Africa Golf Team Championship (AAGTC), which was hosted at Bulawayo Golf Club. Zimbabwe finished third at the continental showdown.
“Indeed, we are very proud. The boys performed extremely well. I think people are talking about Tanaka Chatora and Keegan Shutt, but they are not the only two players we had. We had eight players in that championship, and out of those eight, four players made the cut. If you look at it previously, we never used to have those kinds of numbers. We would hardly have a player making the cut, or if they did, it might have been one player out of five or six.
“For us to have four players making the cut is a reflection of the perseverance we have endured as an association. It’s a result of the hard work and the efforts of everyone associated with golf development in the country. So we are very pleased, but until we start lifting trophies, we are not where we want to be. Until we start seeing more players emerging from the development programmes, only then can we say we have put in place a structure, a pipeline that will continue to produce players like Keegan and Tanaka,” said Chikwana.
In an effort to foster the growth and development of golf across the continent, the R&A (the world governing body of golf outside the Americas) runs a high-performance programme, which currently has 17 participants, seven of whom are from Zimbabwe.
For Chikwana, the programme has been instrumental in taking golf development in the country to the next level.
“Their performance against Africa’s best speaks volumes about our structures and our perseverance. This seems to be the rebirth of junior golf in Zimbabwe, where we’re beginning to see a continuous process where players keep coming through. A year ago, we knew about Keegan; a year later, Tanaka came through, and now we’re talking about Vincent, and probably next year, we’ll be speaking about Darlington and the other guys. It was quite pleasing, to say the least, and we are very happy
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“Golf development has been the cornerstone of our mission and ultimate objective, and the emergence of the High-Performance Programme has enabled us to take the development programme to the next level. The High-Performance Programme has elevated those who had the potential to be better, placing them in an environment where they can now compete with South Africans, Zambians, and others, and produce notable performances. I must also mention that out of the 17 participants in the High-Performance Programme, seven are from Zimbabwe, which speaks highly of the potential identified here.
“We hope to continue building on this potential and maintain the pipeline, ensuring that we have many players coming through. There are young players like (Tawana) Mangoma and (Munesu) Chimhini who are also showing good potential. Hopefully, as time goes on, they’ll continue to develop and benefit from this programme,” said Chikwana.
At last year’s inaugural Africa Amateur Championship, Zimbabwe’s Matthew Bramford finished in fourth place, while Shutt set a new course record at Leopard Creek with a remarkable 10-under-par 62 in the fourth round.
The three female players who took part in the Women’s Invitational this year also impressed. Danielle Bekker secured ninth place, finishing just one stroke ahead of Miriam Masiya, who ended in position 10. Primrose Chikwaya finished tied for 18th.
The performances at this year’s Africa Amateur Championship and the Women’s Invitational signal a bright future for Zimbabwean golf.
“Looking ahead, we hope that this is just the beginning. We hope that the structures we have in place will continue to bring more youngsters on board, and what’s even more pleasing is the diverse backgrounds these youngsters are coming from. Vincent (Chidambazina) is from downtown Chimanimani, Darlington is from Kadoma, and the other two are from Harare.
“But the fact that the talent is spread across the country shows that we now have the ability to identify potential wherever it lies.
“We seem to be on the right track. The next step is ensuring that these structures continue to meet expectations and keep an open door for identifying young talent across the nation. With the pathways we’ve established, we can continue to elevate our country to the highest levels,” said Chikwana.
Zimbabwe’s representatives at this year’s Africa Amateur Championship and Women’s Invitational included Shutt, Chatora, Chikanyambidze, Wallace, Chidambazina, Kelvin Muchenje, Elton Zulu, Shepherd Chiwaya, Danielle Bekker, Primrose Chikwaya, and Miriam Masiya.
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