Mandhu, Williams had a good first round

15 Sep, 2017 - 00:09 0 Views
Mandhu, Williams had a good first round Mark Williams

eBusiness Weekly

Mugove Chigada
Golf instructor Claude “Butch” Harmon was forced to conclude that the golfer that gets the job done in the wind is the one that don’t try to fight it.

“Fight the urge to swing harder; an easier swing will keep the ball down,” he says. It is something that Zimbabweans Mohammad Rauf Mandhu and Mark Williams might have followed in the first round of the Sun Boardwalk Challenge.

Mandhu and Williams had a good first round at the R750 000 tournament which started on September 13. They needed to overcome the wind and cold conditions to be part of the top 15 after that first round, both on two-under-par 70.

It was a course that one of the leaders of that round Jaco Mouton, who managed  four-under-par 68, described as “tough”. “I think four-under is incredible, to be honest. What makes it even more incredible is that it came in his first tournament round on the course. It’s my first time at Humewood,” Mouton was quoted by Sunshine Tour as saying.

“I played the pro-am on Monday and it blew me out of the water here. Today was really tough. It’s cold and the wind was pumping. If you hit anything higher than 20 feet off the ground it was gone. But it’s a nice challenge.”

Williams and Mandhu have been participating consistently in the Sunshine Tour, and they will admit a good first round always gives a lowly ranked golfer a chance.

Back home, the All Africa Golf Championships preparations are at an advanced stage. Thanks to Tongaat and other sponsors that have come on board. Tongaat will kit team Zimbabwe coached by Roger Bylis. Simon Murungweni was appointed manager.

The championships, to be hosted by Zimbabwe in Victoria Falls, at Elephant Hills, will take place from October 8-14.

Rauf Mandhu

Sad news is that Angola and Malawi have pulled out of the tournament which is still expected to be the biggest in its history. Botswana are taking the championships seriously and are expected to come early and have more practice rounds to acclimatise.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) has hailed Chapman for promoting junior players. In the just ended Royal Vase and Bowl, Chapman fielded a development side with juniors in under 12 and the youngsters “gave the older players a run for their money”.

“ZGA thanks Chapman and encourage other clubs to expose their junior golfers to competitive tournaments,” secretary general Lazarus Clever told Business Weekly. Former World number one Jason Day could give a similar script to events at the Royal Vase and Bowl.

Day, at a golf clinic this year, ended up getting a lesson in power from a junior golfer. “This was not your ordinary junior golfer. Min Woo Lee, 18, is the reigning US Junior Amateur champ and he shot 65 to take a one-shot lead at the Sage Valley Junior Invitational. But the highlight of his day came shortly after on the Sage Valley range,” Golfdigest said.

“Hey, kids, take it easy on the tour pros. They might stop coming to these things,” they concluded.

 

Share This:

Sponsored Links

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds