Kachepatsonga is Malawi Open golf champion
Victor Kachepatsonga’s pure quality shone like a flare on Sunday when he emerged the 2017 Malawi Open Golf champion at Lilongwe Golf Club (LGC).
The biggest domestic golf tournament, which was bankrolled by TNM, was played under the theme ‘Digital Transformation.’
Kachepatsonga registered 219 gross over two days to pip last year’s champion and fellow zero-handicapped golfer Adam Sailesi by eight shots.
In his victory speech, Kachepatsonga, who was visibly floating on air, said: “It was not easy, I worked really hard to achieve this. It didn’t come on a silver platter. I thank the sponsors TNM, my playing partners and the organising committee, we really had fun out there on the course.”
For his feat, Kachepatsonga received LTE CPE outdoor plus 20GB, a trophy and a golf cart bag.
His runner-up Sailesi also got a LTE CPE outdoor plus 10 GB and a golf bag stand.
“I fought for every inch of the way to retain the honours, but it wasn’t to be, congratulations to Vic,” said Sailesi.
The two, alongside Paul Chidale are ranked the best golfers on the domestic scene, but Chidale has since turned professional.
In the A Division, with a gross score of 167, Willet Karonga (12h/c) emerged the winner whereas Ryan Kalaria was his runner up with a gross of 172 after counting out Dan Mvula.
In B Division, Mike Kalulu was the winner with 183 gross while Yotamu Saka was the runner-up on 184 whereas David Kalenzi was third on 187.
The senior category was won by Justin Mkandawire while Lucky Penemulungu was second. And in the juniors’ category, Aaron Chitsanzo was the champion followed by Victor Khamalatha.
TNM chief commercial officer Dan Makata pledged continued sponsorship of the event.
“We are in golf to stay, we want to sponsor Malawi Open until you are tired and next year, we will definitely be back and that, I can assure you,” he said, attracting a wild applause.
“As a sponsor, we are very appreciative of the support we get from you and we do not take it for granted. This year’s tournament was special in that it marked 10 years of our involvement with golf.”
LGC captain Brian Coombes hailed TNM for the sponsorship and the golfers for their commitment.
“To TNM I say we are indebted to your gesture and we say thank you for being with us for the past decade,” he said.
