African title on the line at Leopard Creek
Golf
Namibia’s national men’s golf team will be contesting the inaugural Africa Amateur Golf Championship this week, hosted by Golf RSA and sponsored by the Royal & Ancient Golf Association of Scotland. The tournament started at Leopard Creek golf course in Mpumalanga province will start today and will continue until Saturday 24 February, with stroke play as the format on every match day.
The Namibian men that were selected by their ranking on the World Amateur Golf Ranking were Stefanus Bonifatius (Windhoek Golf Club), Walter Heibeb (Tsumeb Golf Club), Kevin Wentzel and Kyle Johnson (both Walvis Bay Golf Club) and Todd Parker (Omeya Golf Club).
With almost half the nations on the continent represented among the 24 teams, the tournament is sure to be hotly contested. Teams from Angola, Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe have been entered.
“I think it’s going to be a fun week. Obviously we are playing at the best facilities in the whole world, in my opinion, from what I’ve experienced. I’m super excited. The golf course is in awesome condition and it seems we’ll have good weather conditions this week; not too much wind, and perhaps some rain on day two.
“My golf is feeling good. I’m here to win and I think I can,” Todd Parker said after yesterday’s practice round.
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Leopard Creek course, this championship marks a significant stride towards providing a world-class platform for Africa’s most promising amateur golfers and reflect The R&A’s commitment to fostering talent, creating a pathway for aspiring golfers and elevating the standard of amateur golf across the continent.
The African tournament is the final piece of the jigsaw, complementing established international events in Asia-Pacific and Latin America for both men and women.
The live broadcast on the SuperSport Action and SuperSport Golf channels should provide further good exposure to the stand-out performers in the tournament.