Gymkhana Club pleads for women golfers’ participation, as Zomba triumphs in TNM tourney
Zomba Gymkhana Club golf captain Patrick Chiona made a strong appeal to women members of the club to join the men by taking up the sport of golf.
Chiona made the plea during prize presentation of this year’s tournament which is sponsored by Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM), Malawi’s premier mobile phone service provider at Zomba Gymkhana Club on Saturday.
He observed that Zomba is never represented by women elsewhere but several ladies do turn for their tournaments at Gymkhana Club.
“We used to have ladies representation in the past but they have moved elsewhere,” he said. “We are ready to train women. We have a trainer Fenwick Gama, who is more than willing to train women.
“The equipment for training is available and the suitable days are Saturdays. Please, also bring your daughters especially that they will soon be on holidays,” he said.
The tournament was won by Charles Mukiwa, who made sure this year’s TNM tournament stayed with the hosts, Gymkhana Club.
Playing off handicap 16, Mukiwa posted 47 stableford points.
Another Gymkhana Club golfer Boniface Tivalenji came second after scoring 45 points while Thyolo Golf Club member Rajeev Singh was third with 44 points.
In the ladies category, Bose Kamphulusa was the champion with 45 points followed by runner-up Muguvu Karuku on 40.
The sponsors also provided a special prize for the best score from a senior golfer and this went to Chimdima Mhango, who posted 39 stableford points, just eight shot of the energetic champion Mukiwa.
In subsidiary prizes, Sharon Marques won the longest drive for the women category while the men’s went to national team player Paul Chidale.
Zomba-based Emmanuel Munthali won the nearest to the pin award.
The sponsors offered fabulous prizes which the company offers on the market, trading under TNM Business Services (TBS), the company’s division that offers broadband internet services.
Regional Manager South, Francis Mwamadi, applauded the golfers for accepting to grace their tournament, saying the sponsors wanted the golfers to appreciate that they offer much more in terms of telecommunication.
“You have always associated us with mobile phones but now we have evolved to become a fully fledged information technology service provider through TBS,” he said.
“We now can even host tour websites or even create one to suit your taste. We promise to offer you the best of information technology services,” he said.
Golf captain Chiona thanked TNM for keeping its faith to Zomba golfers, saying it gives them a great opportunity to interact with golfers from other clubs.
“It is also in the same vein, we thank golfers from Thyolo, Blantyre, Limbe and Nchalo golf clubs for coming over to support us,” he said.
TNM Chief Commercial Officer Daniel Makata said the tournament demonstrates the commitment in its quest to interact with the golfing community and customers in Zomba and surrounding areas.
“This is one of the deliberate efforts by TNM aimed at interacting with our customers and overall improvement of golfing standards in Malawi,” Makata said. “TNM appreciates the support it receives from customers and the golfing community on different products and services that it introduces on the market as such its feel great to interact with our clientele on the golf course.”
TBS, which offers a one stop shop communication solutions for corporate institutions such Broadband, Business Managed Services (WAN/LAN, Web hosting, Email hosting) plus Business Hosted Services such as data centre among others.
This is not the first time for Malawi’s premier mobile network and ICT operator to treat golfers at the country’s Old Capital City and also not the first time for them to sponsor golf.
The pioneer mobile phone service provider successfully sponsored the largest golf tournament in the country, Malawi Open, organised by the Golf Union of Malawi (GUoM) held in April at Lilongwe Golf Club.
TNM also sponsors national golf team’s assignments for both men and women and other tournaments at various golf clubs.
They are also sponsors for Malawi’s top flight football league, the TNM Super League, whose 2016/17 season is in full swing after a successful last season that was won by Nyasa Big Bullets.
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