THE 2013 Zone Six Golf Tournament got under way at the Windhoek Country Club yesterday morning as nine countries took to the greens in perfect sunny conditions.
It is the third time since Independence in 1990 that Namibia has hosted the tournament, with the previous events taking place in 1994 and 2004.
This year eight Zone 6 countries are competing, as well as a Zone 5 country, Kenya, which has also been invited to participate in the tournament. The other countries are Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and Swaziland.
South Africa has dominated the tournament, winning it 18 times over the past 20 years, and will once again be the favourites to retain the title.
But Namibia finished second in Malawi last year and the president of the Namibian Golf Union, Andre Burger, is optimistic that they will do well.
“It’s always a challenge to beat South Africa, they are always the favourites and apart from two years in 1994 when Zimbabwe won and 2010 when Kenya won they have been the winners each year since the start of the tournament.”
“Obviously we try to win every year but it’s difficult to beat the South Africans. If we can take a few points off them and win all our other matches, then we will have a good chance. At least we will try to finish second again, which we managed to do last year in Malawi, only for the second time in history,” he said.
Three of Namibia’s top young players, Roux Jeffrey, Ruan Huyshamen and Glenn de Waal, were not available this year since they have turned professional, but Namibia will still field a strong side.
The team is captained by Hafeni Nghinawaami and includes the experienced Werner Lassen and Phillip Barnard. The rest of the team consists of promising youngsters Paul Ndeilenga, Marlon Swarts, Neil Theron, Stefanus Bonifatius and Brendan Britten.
“We’ve got a reasonably good side this year as every year. The pool wasn’t as big as it used to be because we lost three of our good youngsters who are aspiring to become professional players now,” Burger said.
Burger said the tournament would help put Namibia on the map and called on golf enthusiasts to support the event.
“This tournament is always something to look forward to and we hope golf fans will come and watch to see what standard of golf on display and what they can aspire to, especially our youngsters. It just puts us on the map again, and other than winning the Best Development Programme last year, I think this is another opportunity to showcase the progress that our sport has made over the last couple of years,” he said.
SA DOMINANCE
South Africa will once again start as the favourites and already gave notice of their strength in depth when they dominated the Bank Windhoek Namibian Open last weekend, taking the top five positions.
Zander Lombard won the title after beating compatriot Louis Taylor on a playoff when he sunk a birdie on the second hole.
Both golfers had completed the 54-hole event with a four-under-par score of 211.
Andrew Light and Tertius van den Bergh shared third place on 212, while Gerlou Roux came fifth on 215. Namibia’s Werner Lassen followed in sixth place on 217, while Namibia’s Roux Jeffrey came eighth on 221.
The Bank Windhoek Namibian Open Championships saw a big turnout of more than 100 golfers from all over Namibia. There were golfers from Windhoek, Oshakati, Tsumeb, Gobabis, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.
Several of the visiting Zone 6 countries also entered their players for the tournament, with South Africa, Kenya and Botswana represented.
