MTC last week announced a total sponsorship of N$1,8 million for the MTC Namibian PGA Championship, which will be held at the Windhoek Golf and Country Club from March 17 to 20.
It will be the seventh year that the tournament takes place, although it will also be the last one under the current sponsorship deal with MTC, which previously announced that it would not renew its contract.The tournament traditionally took place in October, at the start of the South African Summer Tour, but was postponed in 2010 due to restructuring of the Windhoek Golf Course. With the new date, the Namibian PGA will now form the sixth and last leg of the South African Summer Tour.MTC’s Isack Hamata said that the tournament had grown steadily through the years.’The tournament has grown tremendously, not only in terms of sponsorship, but also in terms of the number of participants and in terms of its status. It has attracted some of the best golfers on the continent and beyond. Today it has become one of the flagship events on the Sunshine Tour,’ he said.’MTC is proud that it was able to raise the profile of the NPGA Championship through its sponsorship. It has enabled Namibian golfers to learn from and rub shoulders with some of the seasoned golfers from around the world,’ he added.The president of the Namibian PGA, Adri Basson, thanked MTC for their support, saying that the tournament had put Namibian golf on the international map.’MTC’s support has been absolutely fantastic and this tournament has become very prestigious and has been a great showcase for Namibia. It has been a great achievement for a small golfing community like Namibia to host this international event and it has also helped raise the standard of our junior golfers,’ he said.Basson said the tournament would be held over 72 holes and that they expected 154 players to participate. He said that although the exact field had not been determined yet, all the previous winners of the competition would be in action. They include the defending champion Hennie Otto (2009), TC Charamba (2008), Keith Horne (2007) and Anton Haig (2006).The winner of this year’s event will receive N$230 000, while the top 65 placed golfers will share in the prize money, which amounts to a total of N$1,2 million.namibiasport.com.na
