Chidale finishes 3rd in Lusaka’s pro golf
Zambia’s top pro Madaliso Muthiya came from a one under par to dislodge tournament favourite, Malawi’s top notch pro Paul Chidale, who had maintained a two-day lead with a 4 under par during the three-day SUSCON invitational pro golf played at the Bonanza Golf Course in Lusaka.
Reports from Zambia say Chidale, who was specially invited to participate in the tournament as recognition of his impeccable performance when he won the pro category of the SeedCo Lilongwe Open last week, had it rough with putting on the final day on Sunday.
Muthiya is reported to have taken advantage of this and using his experience, he hit long drivers that earned him three eagles and a number of birdies.
Another Zambia, Mwaliwa Sondasi had his best round on Saturday under difficult pin locations that were tucked away and found himself tied with Chidale at four under Par.
Muthiya ended up the winner with 11 under Par seconded by Sondasi with 5 under Par. CHIDALE settled at the third position.
He had received applauds of shouts of ‘Achimwene’ from the gallery when he hit his second shot on hole 18 Par 5 which landed on the green.
Upcoming Zambia golfer Gabriel Chisale was also promising with good hits but failed to emerge to a place on the top three at the final round.
The tournament was organized by the Professional Golf Association of Zambia (PGAZ), established in 1997 with the primary aim of enhancing the level of competition among local professionals.
As special recognition of Chidale’s presence, a banner depicting Chidale’s portrait with the Malawian flag as background displayed in the host club house’s foyer and he was also been featured in Times of Zambia newspaper.
A short interview with Chidale was posted PGAZ’s Facebook page a day before the tournament in which he recognised some of the Zambian pros that he has interacted with during his previous participation of the Kenyan Safari Tours where he has tremendously improved his game.
One of them is Muthiya himself. According to media reports, Muthiya made headlines last year after his excellent performance during the Sunshine Tour in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He is reported to have taken up golf at the age of six and at 15 he caught the attention of former Zambia’s president Frederick Chiluba, who then asked an American, James Roth to assist the lad in securing an athletic scholarship to a university.
The course has attracted over 100 players and Times of Zambia quoted the tournament’s publicity chairperson Alfred Tamba as saying the presence of the foreign pros was a plus to the tournament that was meant to inject a competitive edge into the locals.
“It’s our goal to make this as competitive as possible and going forward we will have more pros from other countries take part in the local event.
“The foreign flavour is what our golfers need to check their progress,” Tamba is quoted as saying.
During the SeedCo Lilongwe Open, Chidale excelled against experienced pros from Zambia and Zimbabwe including highly rated South African, Irvin Mazibuko — former Sunshine Tour champion.
Chidale came first with total gross of 208 (67 Day 1; 67 Day 2 and 74 Day 3) while Mazibuko came 8th with 224 (72; 78 and 74 respectively).
Zimbabwean Robson Chinhoi was second with gross 214; Sydney Wemba Jnr third with 216 and Zambian Mwalikwa Sondashi 4th with 219 while Malawian Chris Mzokomera was 5th with 220.
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