Araujo defends NBM Golf, Muguvu-Karuku sparkles

Rui Araujo has turned the National Bank of Malawi (NBM) Golf Tournament men’s trophy into a personal property following his successful defence on Saturday as Connie Muguvu-Karuku sparkled in the ladies’ category.

For handicap-17 Araujo, his back-to-back victory in the annual competition at Blantyre Sports Club (BSC) was surely a display of guts, determination and skill. It was not easy to fluff off contention from a 91-strongfield.

Even when he blanked the 18th hole, he still had all the required ingredients to make successful title defence.He collected a total of 40 stableford points, a single point ahead of second placed handicap-4 golfer Gabriel Kambale.

“This was one of my best competitions and I enjoyed every moment. I was very consistent with my swing,” said Araujo, who had a total of six pars on the chilly day.

As for Muguvu-Karuku, this was a great day for her; after failing to find herself even on the list of winners of subsidiary prizes last year, almost every accolade finally poured onto her lap.

The handicap-17 golfer emerged as ladies’ champion with 36 points, three ahead of her runner-up Joline Bapu-Perreira (handicap-19) and four in front of third-placed Carol Mbalanje-Banda (handicap-20). She also found herself among the seven two-club winners, hit the longest drive on the eighth hole and was nearest to the pin on the 14th.

“It feels great to win such a big tournament. The golf course was playing well, especially close to the greens. It was a pretty cold today but it has been a wonderful and a glorious day for me,” said Muguvu-Karuku, who had a total of five pars despite the agony of blanking three holes.

Handicap-8 Kingsley Chimdima Mhango finished as the best golfer in the seniors section with 34 points while Frank Jomo found solace in having the nearest to the pin accolade.

NBM chief executive officer McFussy Kawawa said the tournament was a big hit and they were encouraged by the big turnout of golfers.

“Nevertheless, we used this event to inform our existing and prospective customers about our recently launched product, the credit card, which sees them enjoying 45 interest-free days,” he said. n