PHILLIMON MHLANGA
South African golfer, Ivan Verster, won the inaugural boys First Capital Bank Zimbabwe Junior Golf Open on Sunday at the Borrowdale Brooke Golf Estate, finishing two shots ahead of Zimbabwe’s Michael Wallace.
Verster finished with a birdie on the final hole for a four over par 76 to finish on a 54 hole total of three over par 219.
He produced brilliant golf to hold off the persistent challenges of Wallace,who closed with a superb round of two under par 70 for a three round total of five overpar 221.
Another Zimbabwean golfer, Keegan Shutt, finished third on eight under par after carding a 78.
In the girls category, Zimbabwe’s Margret Nyamukondiwa carded a final round of nine-over-par 81 to finish with a 54-hole gross of 238, six shots clear of another Zimbabwean golfer ,Primrose Chikwaya, who carded rounds of 82, 84 and 78 for a total of 244.
Afterwards, the guest of honour, the Sports and Recreation Commission chairman, Gerald Mlotshwa, said:
“Tournaments of this nature involving international participants present local junior golfers with the necessary platform to showcase their talent and provide invaluable experience and exposure to the standard they must achieve to reach the world stage.”
He added: “The development of competitive structures at junior levels in all sports is of vital importance to the development and sustainability of that particular discipline. Junior structures provide the foundation from which the sport grows.”
An array of golfers from six countries including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, China, and Malawi took part in the tournament,
