AT LEAST 110 golfers from as far afield as Canada, Kenya, South Africa and the United States of America have registered to take part in the Washington State Zimbabwe Golf Association (WAZIGA) Championship, which tees off this week.
The event, which makes its mark in Zimbabwe for the first time, is set to run from December 20 to 22 at three of the country's top golf courses in Harare namely Borrowdale Brooke Golf Estate, Chapman Golf Club and Royal Harare.
Golfers from Zimbabwe are also going to take part in the WAZIGA charity golf tournament.
The tournament will be played in seven divisions: the Junior Division (under 18), the Ladies Division, Men’s Divisions “A” to “D” and the Professional (Championship) Division.
The championship division, Division “A” and Division “B” will play Stroke Play, while the other four divisions will play Individual Stableford. The champion for each division will be decided after the three rounds.
A US$14 000 purse has been set aside for the professional division in the three legged event.
"What began as a small eight-man field when the event was launched has developed into a formidable networking and resources-mobilisation platform, which has several events on different courses in the USA," the organisers of the event said in a statement.
"This year, the championship is being launched in a unique way in Zimbabwe, introducing a long-desired fourth goal – to create a platform of interaction between Zimbabwean businesspeople at home and those in the diaspora. The field of players that are participating is set to satisfy this goal.
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"The championship is a three-legged event which will be played on three courses, starting at the Borrowdale Brooke Golf Estate on 20th December, moving to Chapman Golf Club on 21st December and ending at Royal Harare Golf Club on 22nd December.
"One of the major successes in the championship is the inclusion of a subsidised Junior Division, giving access to youngsters who may not be able to finance their own participation. An additional gesture by WAZIGA was the sourcing of sponsorship for gifted players who may be over 18 years old (and therefore not considered juniors anymore) but may require support to participate."
WAZIGA has identified 10 charities that will benefit from the proceeds of the tournament – one in each province of the country. A lot of top players have signed up to participate, including several professionals from Zimbabwe and South Africa.
"The event will be capped with a Prize-giving Dinner on December 22 at the Royal Harare Golf Club. The professional division will benefit form a US$14 000 purse sponsored by a USA company which has supported WAZIGA’s golf-promoting resource-mobilisation efforts for five years.," WAZIGA said.
WAZIGA, an association founded by Zimbabwean business executives in the diaspora, has hosted fundraising golfing events in the United States of America (USA) since its formation over two decades.
They were driven by three key motives: firstly, to network among themselves; secondly, to develop a structured method of mobilising resources and contributing to charities back home in Zimbabwe; and, thirdly to assist promising golfers in Zimbabwe with resources to develop their talent and access the global stage.
This first event heralds the beginning of a series of WAZIGA events going into the future.
