Golfer Chingono takes pride in her resilience
ZERO regrets.
That is how Loice Chingono feels about her golfing career to date!
The golfing phenom has won everything there is to win on the local ladies’ golf circuit, and looks forward to a whole new life of golf after she turned pro in April this year.
That’s how Chingono would like to remember her professional golf career as she prepares to leave her 12-year amateur status behind for the life of a pro and new adventures on the lush fairways and greens.
The top lady golfer in the country joins a very short list of pros in women’s golf and becomes the fourth local female golfer after Claire Minter, veteran Jessie Nyakatawa and Rhoda Muridzo.
“I am more than excited to start a new chapter of my life. Although it is bittersweet to say goodbye to my home and fellow golfers on the amateur circuit, I am more energised and determined to make my mark on the ladies pro circuit. I am immensely grateful to my colleagues, coaches and caddies for constantly supporting me and my passion for golf.
“When I decided to turn pro, I felt I had conquered the amateur level and I needed to go a gear up to increase my level of competence. I also felt I needed to level up to give young, upcoming girls something to aspire to. It really feels great to take up new challenges in life than just feeling satisfied at a lower level where you know you can do better. It is indeed fulfilling and I have no regrets it at all,” she shared with Sunday Sport.
Chingono said the major challenges faced by female pro golfers are the numbers: “We are so few that I call ourselves rare gems, so in terms of sponsorship we are thrown in the same pool with our male counterparts and it makes it so difficult for us to compete. The problem is that level of golf is male dominated, so you find that it does not give a level or fair playing field. You somehow feel like you are in a fix, which is very wrong because golf is mental sport, one needs to be in a comfortable position to really excel. Also, there are literally no tournaments for lady pros and it’s really saddening though.”
The experienced golfer has three tournaments so far as a professional but has had to play mixed with the men which she feels is not the ideal situation.
“Generally, in African pro golf, this is the biggest challenge women are facing. I am contemplating joining the Sunshine Ladies Tour but I have also got involved in the Africa Professional Ladies Tour which is still on the cards. It’s intended to take up all African Professional Ladies that face the same dilemma that we here are facing so that we grow the game on the African continent as a whole,” said the lady pro whose home course is Chapman Golf Club, but has roots at Wingate Park Golf Club where it all started for her.
Chingono believes the standard of female professional golfers is not up to scratch and strongly thinks no one is really interested in helping the girl child to achieve her dream in golf.
“Sometimes I get the feeling that people involved with golf in Zimbabwe believe women belong in the kitchen and it is this kind of mentality we, as women, must shoot down, pick ourselves up and do what we can do best. I am glad we took up positions in the Zimbabwe Professional Golfers Association executive and the drive is to make a difference and change the misconceptions about lady golfers and also encourage other able women to take up the sport seriously. In the
ZPGA, I am the treasurer and Sipiwe Jessie Nyakatawa is the secretary general, so we are in there to make a positive change to the dynamics of golf administration in support of the female professionals to grow the numbers and quality of golf in Zimbabwe.”
Chingono is a popular figure in both the men’s and the women’s game for over a decade and a role model for many young players attempting to get into competitive golf. She drew a crowd when she turned up at Chapman Golf Club for the first day of the FBC Zimbabwe Golf Open taking time to pose for selfies, with fellow golfers, men and women and laugh a little.–@RealSimbaJemwa