Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire has commended strides taken by the Golf Union of Malawi (GOUM) in promoting Golf from the grassroot level.
Mkandawire was speaking on Wednesday at the Lilongwe Golf Club during the official opening of Africa Region 5 Amateur Golf Challenge which has teed off this morning.
The opening event included the flag raising ceremony by all participating countries namesly Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Namibia and the host Malawi.
He said by hosting the tournament, GOUM has shown it’s willingness of taking the sport into greater heights.
“I would like to appreciate what the Golf Union of Malawi have done by hosting other countries here in Malawi. This is very commendable and we must thank them for showing that the sport is active. You all can see that all athletes that have gathered here are all youths and this is something which we should be encouraged.” He said
Mkandawire assured of Malawi Government’s resources support to all sporting disciplines including Golf through the Malawi National Council of Sports.
In his remarks, GOUM President Gift Chidya Gondwe said the tournament will be a success.
“We’ve prepared very well and we are very excited to welcome all guests and we look forward for Malawi to win it this time around,” said Gondwe
Vice President of Africa Golf Confederation responsible for southern Africa, Martin Chikwana thanked Malawi for accepting to host the tournament.
He said this has been possible despite financial challenges that exist after the Cyclone Freddy hit the country two months ago. He analysed that this translated to more resources from Corporate Social Responsibility of local companies going towards lessening the plight of the victims other than sponsoring sporting activities.
Chikwana added that the Confederation has put measures to improve standards of Golf among the youths across the continent.
“We have embarked on high performance center program where Youths are chosen to be taught and fine tune their playing skills so that we can raise the standard of the game in Africa”
The round one today will see nations competing on stroke play ranking for 18 holes and tomorrow there will be foursomes and Singles for 36 holes.
The competition will be completed with singles categories competing on 18 holes on Saturday.
