eBusiness Weekly
Chipo Sabeta
The Julius Robinson Trophy will tee off at Wingate Golf Course this weekend with over 80 top amateur golfers expected to take to the greens.
Running for decades now, the tourney is a 54 holes stroke play tournament that pitches club teams and individuals amateur from around the country’s provinces.
The Julius Robinson Trophy, the second amateur tournament of the season of Zimbabwe Golfers’ Association (ZGA) calender after the Dugmore Trophy , carries national points, world amateur golf ranking points and is the second of the Windhoek Lager yearly qualifier.
This is the first time it is being played as a 54-hole tourney and national points have been upgraded from 20 to 30 for the winner.
David Amm (19), now in US on a four-year-golf scholarship, is the 2018 winner and will not be defending the title.
(ZGA) golf development officer, Boniface Chigorimbo, said they were looking forward to a huge turnout and competitive tournament.
“This will be one of the biggest tournaments in the country and we expect some top players to be part of the event.
“Golfers are set to play 36 holes on Saturday and then Sunday 18 holes.
“We want to thank our sponsors for coming to our aid and we would like all amateur golfers to attend this tournament as it is part of preparation for selection of Zone 6 championships of which will be hosted by Namibia this year.
“The tournament, which is one of the 16 (ZGA) order of merit events, was brought forward,” Chigorimbo said.
Top players like, Tafara Mpofu, Takudzwa Nyamukondiwa , Graeme Lewis , Tatenda Makunde, Promise Sumburero and Morton Kombayi, are among the registered participants for the two-day tourney.
Following persistent rain and uncertain forecast lately, ZGA will be hoping the bad weather doesn’t ruin the golf course or force a postponement.
“Early tee times on Saturday is meant to beat the weather but we hope we will experience fine weather through the weekend. So far the greens are fine, the bunkers are going to be fine. It’s a playable course at the moment,” Chigorimbo added.
The next major tournament will be the Mawegu Amateur in Kadoma Mid-March.
The Masvingo Amateur Tournament is set for the end of March, before the Region Five tourney set for Namibia.
The Zimbabwe Open will be held from April 8th to the 14th, with hopes that local golfers will match their South African counterparts, who have been a dominant force in the past editions of the tournament.
ZGA has over the years produced top notch golfers, who have been participating both on national and international levels.
Meanwhile, top Zimbabwe golfer Scott Vincent, is making headlines after pocketing $54 875 for coming fourth in the World Super 6 in Perth on Sunday.
This was his biggest pay cheque for 2019, having previously collected $8 720 at the Singapore Open earlier.
Vincent, who started participating in the Asia Tour in 2016, is now approaching the $1 million mark.
The 26-year-old rising star has milked $867 214 from the Asia Open, easily making him the highest earning Zimbabwean sports personality.
This year, he will be competing in several tournaments this year, where he will be expected to improve his earning as his performances also improve steadily.
Despite the rich pickings, Vincent is still waiting for his maiden win abroad as a professional, top Zimbabwe golfer.
