All is set for the 2022 FBC Zimbabwe Open Golf Championship following the official handover of the hosting courses Royal Harare Golf Club and Chapman Golf Club to the Sunshine Tour and the Zimbabwe Open Committee on Monday evening.
The courses were handed over to the Zimbabwe Open Committee by their respective captains to mark the official start of the tournament with Joe Sibanda representing Royal Harare Golf Club while Robson Bikoko stood for Chapman Golf Club.
The ceremony was also attended by representatives from the various sponsors, headlined by FBC Holdings as well as representatives from the tournament’s sanctioning body the Sunshine Tour.
Speaking during the official opening of the tournament on Monday evening, Zimbabwe Open Committee chairman Livingstone Gwata said they are anticipating a bigger edition of the FBC Zimbabwe Open due to the support they have received from various sponsors and partners.
“We have a much bigger tournament this year due to the support we have received from our sponsors headed by the title sponsors FBC Holdings. This year’s tournament is a dress rehearsal for much bigger things to come in the future,” Gwata said.
“We did allude in the past that our partners, the Sunshine Tour were quite impressed with the way all the stakeholders in Zimbabwe have been putting together a fantastic tournament and had no hesitation in recommending us with the European Tour which has now been rebranded the DP World Tour and we are looking forward to 2023 being a much bigger tournament under the DP World Tour umbrella,” he said.
The action got underway on Monday with 15 players, who had not automatically qualified for the tournament booking their place in the main field from the pre-qualifying tournament held at Chapman Golf Club.
The pre-qualifying tournament will be followed by the two traditional Pro-Am tournaments at Chapman and Royal Harare on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, culminating in the big tournament during the last four days of the week from Thursday to Sunday.
There will be 80 players playing at Chapman and another 80 players at Royal Harare. On Friday they will switch with those that played the opening round at Chapman moving to Royal and vice versa.
After the opening two rounds the players that make the cut, the top 60 and ties will fight it out for the coveted title at Royal Harare Golf Club.
— 2022 FBC Zim Open (@GolfZimOpen) May 17, 2022