Fly the flag high urges Crock

United States-based former Zimbabwean cricketer, Gary Crocker.

United States-based former Zimbabwean cricketer, Gary Crocker, recently urged the golf mother body to make good work of the opportunity and do the country proud, after Zimbabwe was awarded the privilege of hosting both the Africa Amateur Golf Team Championship and the All Africa Junior Golf Challenge in 2017.

“This is fantastic news for both junior and amateur golf in Zimbabwe overall,” commented Crocker on Facebook. “Let’s make this a well-run tournament. We have to show everyone that our country’s golf association is a capable organisation. By staging progressive tournaments, we will be promoting future tournaments like these to be played in our country for many years to come.”

Zimbabwe Golf Association’s first Vice President, Mufaro Chivonivoni, was also elated as he urged the nation to embrace this opportunity and rally behind the association for a successful journey together.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us. This comes as great news for Zimbabwe’s golf fraternity and the nation in general. It is excellent for our tourism sector and calls for all parties to ensure the two tournaments succeed,” he said. “It’s a badge of honour for the country to be bestowed the rights to host a continental tournament and this is a double blessing for us. We obviously have to work hard to meet this opportunity that we have had, which reflects how highly Zimbabwean golf is being regarded on the continent.”

The AAGTC is played every two years. The other teams participating in this year’s tournament are Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Tunisia, defending champions South Africa, host Kenya, Zone Six and East Africa golf Champions Uganda, Zambia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Egypt and Cote D’Ivoire. The junior challenge is a qualifier for the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup that is played annually in Nagoya, Japan where the two leading African teams represent the continent.