TOUGH OUTING FOR ESWATINI GOLFERS

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.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: