BGU terminates Gaborone Golf Club lease
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday September 22, 2017 15:19
The club has been given six months, until January 2018, to vacate the facility.
The GCC is a tenant on a land owned by the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC). BGU president, Enoch Mushango told Mmegi Sport that the process of the P100 million development of the course is ongoing.
He dismissed reports that some members had lost their membership of the BGU due to the pending developments.
He said the Union is in the process of communicating with the members on the progress of the project.
“Normally when such projects happen, they bring panic to most people.
We are going to release an update to all members and the club will be advised to do the same. It is unfortunate that information has not been flowing smoothly the way we would have wanted,” he said.
Mushango said the development will turn the area into a top class course that will be able to host the Sunshine Tour.
He said the project will come with other bigger benefits.
The project developer is Saverio-Alley, a locally- owned company and the architects are from South Africa.
Mushango said the project cannot proceed when the lease between BGU and Gaborone Golf Club is still running, hence the decision to terminate. He said the project also involves the city fathers being the city council and government.
He said the original cost of the project was around P100 million but costs keep escalating.
“When the project kicks off, the contractor has promised to do three holes every two months.
It is an 18 holes course, first nine and back nine,” Mushango said.
He said the project is expected to take 15 months to be completed.
Meanwhile, the BGU will host their annual Independence trophy championship tomorrow ending on Sunday at the Gaborone Golf Course.
It is the only tournament that gives all players an equal chance of winning as it is based on the net score.
Mushango said the weekend tournament is the only competition that uses the net score.
The tournament is divided into three divisions for men and two divisions for women; the Championship Division (Handicap 9 and below), A Division (Handicap 10-16) and B Division (Handicap 17-24).
Mushango said the handicap has been limited to 24 and even if the player’s handicap is 30, it is brought down to 24.
The A Division for women is for handicap 16 and below while B Division is from 17 to 30.
Mushango said the handicap for women is limited at 30.
The tournament is sponsored by BGU but according to Mushango, Standard Chartered Bank has committed to return next year.
The bank pulled out from sponsoring the tournament in 2009.
“We are in the process of signing a long-term agreement with the bank,” he revealed.