E150K FOR FNB NKONYENI CHAMP

MBABANE – Eswatini will be represented by 14 professional and two amateur golfers in the main FNB Eswatini Nkonyeni Challenge, starting on Thursday right up to Saturday.

The tournament, sponsored by First National Bank (FNB), has a record of E1 million prize money at stake, which is a rare and magnificent feat in the local golfing space. Well-placed sources disclosed that the winner is likely to walk away with about E150 000. The competition has attracted a record of 114 golfers in total, including both professionals and amateurs. There will be a Pro-am tournament running for two days from tomorrow and Wednesday. This is where throngs of invited amateur golfers will have the privilege of playing with the professionals, thereby getting to learn good golfing swings and tips. Meanwhile, these sessions are aimed at also helping the professionals familiarise themselves with the course.

This will also serve as practice sessions for the professionals ahead of their main tournament scheduled to start on Thursday. Information gathered from the organisers is that the professionals will battle it out on Thursday and Friday. The top 40 and ties who will make the cut on Friday will then advance to the final round on Saturday. So it goes without saying that the Nkonyeni Golf Estate will be a hive of activity for the whole of this week, courtesy of FNB. Representatives of the reputable golf operating powerhouse, Sunshine Tour, arrived in the country this weekend and preparations for the tournament are said to be at an advanced stage.

Nkonyeni Golf Director Frans Strauss confirmed that it was all systems go, adding that the course was looking great and ready for the golfers to display their artistry. “We’ve been blessed with some light drizzles this weekend and they have enhanced the beauty of the course. There is no doubt that both the professionals and amateurs will enjoy themselves to the fullest,” Strauss said.He heaped special gratitude to FNB for the sponsorship and choosing Nkonyeni as the battleground for such a grand competition. Apart from the 16 emaSwati, there will be close to 100 visiting professionals, mainly from South Africa. Others come from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Chile, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Eswatini Professional Golfers Association’s (EPGA) executive member Vusi Dlamini said they were looking forward to a fun-filled week and he equally thanked FNB for the sponsorship. Dlamini sounded confident that the local professionals would represent the country well, considering that the EPGA had been staging monthly tournaments for almost two years now.“Unlike in the past, our guys will feature in this prestigious tour well prepared from the competitions we’ve exposed them to since 2020. They’ve been very active and should compete fairly well. Besides, they have the home-ground advantage,” he said. Dlamini expressed contentment that the competition was organised in consultation with the EPGA and was optimistic that it would be a huge success.

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