THE country’s oldest golf facility, Bulawayo Golf Club, is clamouring for an opportunity to host Zimbabwe’s premier tournament Zim Open following the successful staging of the All Africa Golf Team Championship last week.
At 129-years-old, Bulawayo Golf Club hosted flawless biennial continental golf championship, which had 11 countries and a total of 44 golfers taking part.
Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) got the opportunity to host the tournament after Seychelles opted out due to bad weather and took the event to Bulawayo.
And South Africa appeared to have enjoyed playing at the antique golf course as they won the All Africa Golf Team Championship by 31 strokes over second place Zambia while hosts Zimbabwe finished third, a further four shots adrift. Basking in the glory of hosting the international event, Bulawayo Golf Club believe they have what it takes to host the FBC sponsored Zimbabwe Open.
“We have a lot of hard work to do and we still have to always put our hands up to host more and bigger tournaments in Zimbabwe. We will keep knocking on the door for the Zimbabwe Open,” club captain Josh Lepar told this publication.
“We understand that it is traditionally held in the capital because they have bigger golf courses but it’s not to say smaller golf courses in smaller towns cannot host it.
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“We need that support from ZGA like they showed us at this tournament to be able to showcase what we can do. We are not dead and buried and we believe we can host tournaments of this magnitude,” he added.
Lepar said there was a lot of work still needed to be done on the golf course.
“Obvious as we proudly say, we are the oldest golf club in Zimbabwe established in 1895 and to host an event like this is special not only for us but for the Bulawayo community and the golfers in Bulawayo just to showcase what Bulawayo is all about,” he said.
“We are trying to re-equip the maintenance side of our golf course in terms of all the machinery that is required.
“Water has been an issue in Matabeleland and in Zimbabwe in general but we have been able to successfully sink two new boreholes and we hope they will see us through.
“And we hope the rains come because after the work we have done, I think it’s going to flourish and show what this course is all about.
“It’s a traditional old course. It’s not as long as the new courses and I am sure that the players can attest that they can drive a little further than what the old players did when this course was designed but it’s challenging enough,” Lepar added.
With the golf facility turning 130 next year, Lepar believes there is cause for special celebrations next year.
“Obviously, we have a traditional annual fundraising, which is a big event for our golf course. It’s more of a family oriented fun day to make sure we keep the numbers here,” Lepar said.
“I think last year we had 140 players and it’s one of our biggest revenue generators every year. I am sure that the committee that organises that event will come up with something special for the 130th celebration,” he said.
Zimbabwe boasts of some of Africa’s oldest golf courses and the country’s best championship golf facility, Royal Harare having been established in 1898. Africa Golf Confederation (AGC) president Johnson Omolo spoke highly of Zimbabwe’s golf courses, including Bulawayo Golf Club.
"Outside South Africa, in the region we look at Zimbabwe because they have one of the biggest golf infrastructures in Africa,” Omolo said.
“The Zimbabwe Golf Association team led by Martin Chikwana has done a tremendous job over the years.
"We have seen Zimbabwe host the All Africa Golf Team Championship in Bulawayo but most countries host this tournament in the capital city, this is a demonstration of the confidence the Zimbabwe Golf Association have in their infrastructure, which is at championship level,” he added.