• FUTURE STARS….Junior golfers who are undergoing an intensive training programme conducted by South African experts pose for a group photo at Mazabuka Golf Club.

By JIM FIKOLOMA –

SIXTY-NINE top players from across the country will converge in Mazabuka today to compete for honours in the Zambia Sugar-sponsored Mazabuka Open Golf Championship.
Some of the notable golfers who will jostle for accolades are defending champion Dazzy Ngandu, Maamba Open winner Charlie Butts, Aaron Simfukwe Jnr and Peter Munyinya.
Others are Brighton Mandozana, Sikaanka Kabbudula and Kelly Tembo.
Tournament secretary, Herbert Shalubobya said the Mazabuka Open, which he described as the best sponsored golf event in Southern Province, had all it took to be dubbed the ‘battle of the elite’ as it would involve only low handicap players in the A and B divisions this year.
Shalubobya said there was overwhelming response to the 2015 Mazabuka Open but the size of the course was a limiting factor.
“The Mazabuka Open Golf tournament has always attracted many participants, but the size of the course can only accommodate about sixty players for a one day event, hence, we had to shortlist.
“Previously, the event was played over two days but due to high accommodation and travel expenses incurred by players, the Zambia Golf Union ruled during the last annual general meeting that all club open tournamenst should be played in a day,” Shalubobya explained.
Meanwhile, SHAMAOMA MUSONDA reports that two South African professional golfers are in Zambia for a three-week training programme for local junior players.
Karl Hassler and Herman Vorster will conduct three training session in Mazabuka, Lusaka and Kitwe where they are expected to train up to 114 players.
Zambia Junior Golf Association (ZJGA) director Aloysius Phiri said in an interview that the training programme had started in Mazabuka with the leg moving to Lusaka next week before Kitwe closes the series.
“We have Karl Hassler and Herman Vorster, the two South African professional golfers in Mazabuka conducting training session for our juniors. The numbers in Mazabuka are actually overwhelming as we have as many as 46 juniors,” Phiri said.
Phiri said the 46 juniors were drawn from Maamba, Choma, Monze and Mazabuka among other areas in Southern Province.
To ensure the knowledge from the two professionals is transferred to the local golfing community, ZJGA has attached national junior coach Patrick Mwendapole senior to the Mazabuka leg.
“Mwendapole is there with the group in Mazabuka to learn the new golf techniques and then when they go to Lusaka, beginning Monday to Friday, we shall attach Obed Sholoma.
“Our plan is that later on, these Zambians can go and conduct such trainings in the far flung areas like Kasama,” he said.
He said both the Lusaka and Copperbelt legs were expected to have a minimum of 34 players each and that the 114 target ZJGA had set could be surpassed.
“These are good numbers which tell us of a good future in Zambian golf,” he said.
Phiri said ZJGA would continue with such programmes of equipping the juniors with enough ammunition for them to produce the desired results once they become fully-fledged players.
He said every school holiday, ZJGA will be trying to bring experts to train the locals in an effort to uplift the desired golf standards.
ZJGA has also sponsored former national champion Timothy Sondashi to a South African university on a golfing scholarship.
After graduating, Sondashi, who will get international recognition as a trainer, is expected to be drilling the locals and help in perfecting their skills.