Mlusu, Kamanga crowned ‘ONE NICO Nchalo Golf Tournament’ winners 

Former Malawi Minister of Finance, Felix Mlusu and Mercy Kamanga were crowned champions in the Mens and Laddies golf categories for the 2024 ONE NICO Nchalo Golf annual competition which took place at Nchalo Golf Club in Chikwawa.

The competition which was played on Saturday in an individual Stableford format saw the two winners becoming the top players out of the 72 golfers who participated in this year’s event where 60 were men and 12 laddies after scooping 39 and 34 points respectively.

In the Mens categories, Nathan Nkhata finished second with 38 points which saw him going away while Boniface Tivalenji came third with 36 points.

On the other hand, Faith Samati scored 31 points to finish on second position whereas Thoko Gaffar took the third position.

The best senior golfer category was won by James Chimwaza who accumulated 33 points as Nchalo Closed section went to Alick Mzumara after scoring 35 points.

In his remarks, Mlusu described self confidence and concentration, support from playing partners as the major contributing factors on his success.

He however, said  that despite having great performance, he went through some biggest challenges such as failing to keep the ball on the fairway but managed to stood up in good shape and be able to score some good points.

“My overall golf performance is getting much better and this is why I have managed to win today in a competition where other senior golfers took part.

“This is very encouraging to me and I want to thank NICO Group for organizing the tournament because through these competitions it is helping us to interact with different people and share ideas,” said Mlusu.

NICO General Insurance Chief Executive Officer,  Donbell Mandala said he was very much delighted for hosting a remarkable competition which he said it’s main purpose was to create an environment for the company’s existing and new business partners to come together and allow them to provide their feedbacks that can help the company to keep on growing.

Mandala further said that, the company is eager to develop the sport which he said have the impact to contribute towards Malawi economy if companies start investing in golf.

“The ONE NICO golf is a flagship tournament which has been there for more than 25 years and it  has symbiotic relationship with Illovo and through this partnership we have noticed some good notable benefits in as far as business is concerned and we are committed to develop our business and the sport together,” said Mandala.

The competition started with the Junior Golf tournament which was won by Mariko Anthony in the boys category with gross 80 while Estere Tifike became the winner for girls division with gross 85.

During the event, NICO Group donated K500 000 to Nchalo Golf Club to assist for green course maintenance and also made a sponsorship of K1 million for scorecards for the whole year.