Todd Parker and Wilna Bredenhann were crowned champions of the Namibian Open Golf Championship at the Windhoek Golf Club on Sunday.
Parker won the men’s championship with a total of 216, finishing nine strokes ahead of Edwin Kutara, with Jackson Kawaya third on 229, while Gelson Gideon had the best nett score of 217, followed by Justus Amutenya two strokes behind.
Bredenhann won the women’s championship with a gross score of 174, followed by Sesilia Nkosi two strokes behind, while Natasja Louw had the best nett score of 143, followed by Alvine Samuel on 148.
Parker, who is studying in the United States and recently represented Namibia at the Africa Region 5 Golf Championships, was playing at home for the first time in several years, and got off to a slow start.
Kutara took the early lead, scoring a par 72 for the first round, to take a five-stroke lead over Parker and Jackson Kawaya who both carded five-over 77.
Kutara, however, had a poor second round, scoring a nine-over par 81, while Parker swept to the top of the leaderboard with a brilliant three-under par 69.
Kawaya, meanwhile, also struggled on the second round and like Kutara also carded 81, to drop further off the pace.
By the end of the second round Parker had moved well ahead of the chasing pack with a total of 146, while Kutara trailed seven strokes behind on 153, and Kawaya a further five strokes behind on 158.
Parker maintained his fine form on the final round, carding a two-under par 70 to run out a comprehensive winner, finishing nine strokes ahead of Kutara.
Parker says he got off to a poor start.
“I started off the tournament with a bit of a struggle as I was five over par and five strokes behind the lead after the first round. However, I managed to fight back and shoot three under par on my second round, while Edwin unfortunately had a poor second round which found him seven shots behind me going into the final round,” he says.
“It was my first tournament back home for quite a long time so I felt quite nervous and under pressure to win a local tournament again and I got off to a shaky start. After nine holes, I was three over par and only three shots ahead of Edwin, while the other competitors were also closing in on me, so I knew I had to be at my best over the last nine holes,” he says.
Parker, however, rose to the occasion with a final round of par-72.
“I played very solid golf. I made five birdies and I shot five under par on my last nine holes to shoot a two under par 70 for the final round, which put me at level par for the whole tournament and nine shots ahead of Edwin,” he says.
“Coming back after starting off poorly today and playing some of the best golf I’ve played in a very long time was just great, and I feel very good about this win. I was very proud of it and it was amazing to play in front of the local crowd again.
“The Namibian people are such nice people – they were all so happy for me, they all congratulated me and it was just good to be back home and win on home soil,” he says.
