THE launch of the Zambia Ladies Open Golf Championship this year marks a major milestone in the development of the women’s sport in our country.
This first-ever local professional ladies golf event, which has attracted some of the top women players on the European Tour, has coincidentally come at the time the ladies sport is also clocking 50 years of existence in Zambia.
I marvelled at the women’s courage and enthusiasm to undertake such a landmark task.
Initially, when the Zambia Ladies Golf Union (ZLGU) hinted of trying to host the first-ever Professional Ladies Golf Tournament, a lot of doubts were raised of the union’s abilities to organise such a big event.
ZLGU president, Moono Mwila stated that they badly wanted to launch this spectacular event to mark and celebrate the union’s golden jubilee this year.
The union will be commemorating its jubilee celebrations on July 25, 2014.
How amazing it has been to see this dream come to fruition when Ndola Golf Club finally staged this championship which closes today.
However, organising a tournament of such magnitude demanded a lot of hard work especially that it was the first time ZLGU was undertaking such a gigantic thing.
With all the doubts then lingering on, I followed with keen interest to see if indeed ZLGU under the leadership of Mwila will deliver or fail.
Truth must be told ZLGU is one of the most efficient and well organised active sports associations in Zambia.
The kind of enthusiasm and commitment shown by Mwila and her team is something other sports bodies in the land need to emulate if they are to achieve anything tangible.
Under five months since the announcement of their intentions was made, ZLGU managed to raise the required budget for the event and even deposited the sanctioning fee with tournament authorities, Sunshine Ladies Tour of South Africa.
To make the inaugural tournament even more appetising, CFAO donated a Ford Eco Sport Titanium car, which was placed on the 17th hole, where the first professional golfer to ace the par-three hole will drive in it away.
This kind of work attitude is what we expect to see from all sports associations in Zambia instead of some of them always reducing themselves to ‘cry babies’.
It is now my hope that ZLGU will still be able to come back next year and stage the second edition of this prestigious championship. E-mail:malungaf@gmail.com