BUDDING South African golfers Devon Valentine and Charlotte Millard won the second edition of the First Capital Bank Zimbabwe Junior Golf Open championship, boys and girls class respectively, which concluded at the Borrowdale Brooke Golf Club yesterday.
Valentine shot an eagle in the playoff final to beat compatriot Ethan Fichardt, while Millard led from start to finish and enjoyed a seven-shot lead in the end.
The two golfers gained automatic entry into the senior Zimbabwe Open for next year.
Valentine went into the final joint top of the leaderboard along with Marno Lange and held a three-shot advantage over Fichardt, who was third after two rounds.
But Fichardt carded a level par 72 final round to finish on 2 over par 218 and force a playoff for the title.
The 18-year-old Valentine was happy with the win and is already looking forward to the Zim Open.
“This win is very important for me and I am grateful for it. I can’t wait to play in Zim Open, it will be a great experience just to see where my game is compared to professionals,” he said.
Millard was delighted to have led from start to finish in the tournament.
“I am very happy with the way I played I managed to keep myself on top in all the three days. It was definitely my goal to win, but I would have been happy with a top three finish,” she said.
South Africa dominated the event and took the top six positions in the boys class, with Jason Ressel finishing in third on four over and one of the overnight leaders Lange one shot adrift in fourth place.
Zimbabwe’s best performer in the boys class was Vincent Chadambudzana who was tied for seventh on plus 10 after a 226 gross total.
In the girls class, Phenyo Sebata was runner-up on 25 over four strokes ahead of Ellandri van Heerden, while Chinese Yixuan Mu finished fourth with a gross of 250.
For Zimbabwe, Miriam Masiya was tied in fifth place after carding 8 over par 80 in the final for a gross 259 total, a position she shared with South African Manuel Gonsalves.
Local boys Conner Lashbrook and Chadambudzana were recognised for best drive and best gross total on the second day, respectively.
One of the fastest growing financial institutions First Capital Bank sponsored the tournament for the second year running.
