FBC to sponsor 2017 All Africa Golf tournament
LEADING financial institution, the FBC bank has agreed to be the title sponsor of the forthcoming 2017 All Africa Golf tournament that is pencilled for the Elephant Hills Golf Course in Victoria Falls next week.
The financial institution on Wednesday handed over a cheque of $35 000 to the Zimbabwe Golf Association president Mufaro Chivonivoni which will go towards the successful hosting of the event.
“The tournament has now been renamed the 2017 FBC All Africa Golf team Championships and as ZGA we are very grateful to FBC for their gesture and to other corporate like Tongaat Hullet, Minerva, Seedco, Zuva, Legacy Group and Colcom that have come on board,” said the ZGA president Chivonivoni.
He said the Elephant Hills staff have been working round the clock to ensure that the golf course is in good condition ahead of the start of the tournament.
“We are confident that the event will be a success and that it will also go a long way in promoting the Zimbabwe brand as the players will have some time to visit the tourist attractions that are in and around Victoria Falls,” said Chivonivoni.
The ZGA boss said the official flag raising ceremony will be held on Monday with teeing off starting the next day right up to the final round on Friday.
Fifteen countries will now take part at this year’s tournament and they are expected to start arriving tomorrow ahead of the official raising of the flag.
Chivonivoni said the countries that will be at the greens are Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Reunion Island, Tunisia, Zambia, Tanzania, Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Angola, Namibia Ghana and Zimbabwe. The All Africa Golf Team Championships is held every two years and Zimbabwe finished third behind winners South Africa and the hosts Kenya, who came second, in 2015. Countries are requested to send four of their top national amateur players along with a HARARE City believe their fine record in the Chibuku Super Cup will spur them on as they go out in search of a repeat of the 2015 season when they won the tournament.
The Sunshine Boys, who are one of the dominant teams in the tournament since its rebirth three years ago, are positive they will cause tremors again this year after scaling the first hurdle by eliminating giants Highlanders.
The club’s secretary-general Matthew Marara yesterday was brimming with confidence as they prepared for a date against army side Black Rhinos in the quarter-finals at Rufaro tomorrow.
The Sunshine Boys have never faltered in the preliminary stages since they featured in the semis of the inaugural edition in 2014 and then the two previous finals.
“We are highly motivated. The spirits are high and we have the belief that we always go far in this tournament, check the records. So we are very positive that we will go past the quarter-final stage.
“The strategy is to score as many goals as possible. We coach and president of their national association/ Union for a contingent total of six.
The executives of the Africa Golf Confederation and representatives of the Royal and Ancient of Scotland usually grace the tournament. The tournament is used to prepare top African amateurs golfers for the World Amateur Team Championships that are held every two years under the auspices of the International Golf Federation. — @skhumoyo2000.