Times Of Swaziland: TOUGH OUTING FOR ESWATINI GOLFERS

TOUGH OUTING FOR ESWATINI GOLFERS
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Sports Reporter on 29/07/2022 09:30:00


NKONYENI – The Nkonyeni Eswatini Golf Challenge started on a high note
yesterday with 111 golfers from across the globe squaring up at the prestigious
Nkonyeni Golf Estate.
All eyes were on Eswatini’s 14 professional golfers and the two amateurs, who
all competed fairly well and to the best of their abilities. However, the course
was notably difficult for all the participants, including the South African top
professionals. Eswatini’s best golfer of the day was Brandon-Jude Rennie, who
finished with 72 points and was level par. Out of the field of 111, Rennie
finished on position 29 which was good by local standards.
Positioned
Eswatini’s second best with 74 points, which is two-over par and positioned 52
was Sifiso Vilane, who recently turned professional and is a debutant in the
Sunshine Tour. The country’s youngest but highly experienced professional
golfer James Pennington carded the same score as Vilane.
Despite finishing three-under par, Eswatini’s top golfer Raymond Mathonsi said
he was content with his performance. Mathonsi expressed hope that he would turn
the tables in today’s encounter, where high competition is expected as the
golfers will be fighting to make the cut for the top 40 and ties.
“I really pushed today and was very happy with my performance, but I do hope
to do even much better tomorrow,” he said. Eswatini’s amateur golfer Qiniso
Mkhonta, who excelled in last month’s pre-qualifier to gain entry into this
week’s big challenge, also believes he would do better today having gained
immeasurable experience from yesterday’s content where he finished 13-over.
Considering
“I finished the first nine three-over par and I was excited, considering that
this is my first participation in a Sunshine Tour event. The second nine was a
bit challenging hence I made 10-over par resulting in my 13-over par for the
day. Eswatini Professional Golfers Association’s executive member Vusi Dlamini
predicted that the course would be much harder today, but was confident that
Eswatini’s team would do fairly well. “Most of them had stage fright
yesterday and I hope the nerves will be loosened tomorrow and we can expect
better results. They really held their fort against the strong contingent of
visiting professionals,” Dlamini stated. Leading after round one was South
Africa’s Jaco Prinsloo on seven-under-par. Those who will make a cut and ties 
today will progress to the finals tomorrow.