Southern Open back after three-year absence

| Friday January 17, 2014 16:02

The championship was last played in 2010.The championships will be held on January 25 and 26. BGU secretary-general Mpho Kelosiwang says the main obstacle has always been the timing of the championships.

  He explained that BGU had an agreement with the previous Lobatse Golf Club committee to have the event every January but when the committee was voted out of office, the arrangement fell by the wayside. He said the other factor was that Lobatse normally receives high rainfall and that results in the greens over growing. He observed that it took time to get the greens ready. Kelosiwang said since Lobatse has a small course, most golfers rarely play there.

'Sponsorship has been a headache for BGU for the Southern Open Championships but we have managed to secure a P20, 000 sponsorship from A.E.G.I.S Instruments,' said Kelosiwang. He said last year, the championships was to be held in October and was postponed because it clashed with the women's tournament that was played in Sowa Town. Kelosiwang said after the championships, BGU would get the national team ready for Zone Six competition that will be held in Cape Town in April. The squad will be announced soon. Kelosiwang said there were some tournaments lined up before the regional event such as the Jwaneng Open, which are meant to sharpen up the players. In recent years, the Botswana teams that have been sent out of the country have performed dismally and the blame has always been on lack of proper preparations. The last tournament the national team attended was the Zambia Triangular. The local golfers have always been advised to improve their scores if they are to do well in international games. Some of the local commentators observed that players from other countries usually bring lower scores. Golfers will target qualification to the inaugural Windhoek Lager Africa Jacket Golf Championships slated for Namibia. Players will compete in three divisions being A Division- Handicaps 1 up to 9, B Division- Handicaps from 10-16 and C Division- Handicaps from 17-24.