BULAWAYO Golf Club-based professional golfer Brian Gondo is determined to recapture the form that once made him one of the country’s leading players on the now defunct Zambezi Tour as he prepares to kick-start his season at the Maxi Bulawayo Pro-Am Golf Tournament.
The 37-year-old was a regular winner on the local professional golf circuit a few years ago, winning several titles such as the NetOne Classic, Hwange Open and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Invitational Tournament while he also competed regularly on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa.
After battling injuries, which kept him away from the course for a lengthy period and limited exposure due to the tough economic environment in the country, Gondo appears to be slowly rediscovering his form.
Last year he finished in second position in the inaugural Maxi Bulawayo Pro-Am Golf Open behind the eventual winner Ignatius Mketekete having earlier in the season made the cut at the FBC Zimbabwe Open.
Spurred on by last year’s encouraging results, Gondo will be aiming to make good use of home advantage during the second edition of the tournament which will be played at Bulawayo Golf Club from March Thursday to Sunday.
The Maxi Bulawayo Pro-Am Golf Tournament which has a lucrative prize fund of US$25 000 for the professionals, courtesy of the sponsors Arenel Sweets & Biscuits, through their Maxi brand, is expected to attract a quality field of local and some foreign players.
The upcoming tourney will certainly provide the perfect stage for Gondo to showcase the progress he has made in rediscovering his best form.
“Back in the day when we were competing on the Zambezi Tour locally we had more tournaments. We were playing week in week out and personally it gave me a chance to continue improving and I ended up winning some events,” Gondo said in an interview with The Sports Hub.
“My aim is to rediscover that winning touch and win a few tournaments locally starting with the upcoming Maxi Bulawayo Pro-Am Golf Tournament. Last year I had a busy schedule, I played quite a few tournaments here down in South Africa and I want to continue with that momentum,” he said.
Gondo is one of the organisers of the Maxi Bulawayo Pro-Am Golf Open, having played a big role in convincing the sponsors to bankroll the tournament.
He has been delighted with how the tournament has grown to become one of the biggest events on the local golf calendar after the Zimbabwe Open.
“Im good friends with Josh (Joshua Lepar, managing director of Arenel) and they are also really into golf development so it was easy for me to have a chat with them and encourage them to sponsor the tournament. We had the first tournament last year and it was very successful with professional golfers coming from all over the country and beyond the country’s borders. It has become one of the biggest events in the country after the Zimbabwe Open so we are expecting another big event again this year,” Gondo said.
In addition to competing on the professional tours, Gondo is also very passionate about golf development in Bulawayo where he has been nurturing the next generation of players and hopes to eventually set up an academy.
“While I enjoy competing, I have always enjoyed teaching. I have been doing a lot of coaching with the youngsters here in Bulawayo while a few years ago I also worked with the Zimbabwe Ladies Golf Union. With help from PPC we introduced golf into all the girls schools here in Bulawayo but unfortunately we were not able to carry on due to the coronavirus. I hope to be able to continue giving back and one of my other main goals is to set up an academy for the juniors here in Bulawayo.
Born in Mutare in a family of five, Gondo’s passion for golf started from watching his father and other players at Leopard Rock Golf Resort which was his first home course.
Despite not having any formal coaching or training, Gondo, who was mostly a self-taught golfer, went on to represent Zimbabwe as an amateur golfer.
He was the youngest member of the Zimbabwe team at the 2006 edition of the Zone VI Golf Championships in Malawi before captaining the country at the World Amateur Golf Team Championships a year later.