What you need to know about the Mopani Redpath Zambia Open at Nkana Golf Club as the Sunshine Tour makes its final stop on the ‘Africa Swing’.
The tournament
The Mopani Redpath Zambia Open is back at Nkana Golf Club this year, and this time, it’s the only ‘Zambia Open’ on the schedule after the Lusaka event was rebranded as the Zanaco Masters.
It still has a prize fund of $150,000, which makes it worth over R1.8-million to South African players, and a pretty good proposition for someone to pick off and get a head start to the 2018-19 Sunshine Tour season, which is now just two tournaments old.
This event has been part of the Sunshine Tour since 1996 and was co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour from 2001 to 2004. It was also an event on the Challenge Tour between 1991 and 1993, as it was part of the now-defunct Safari Tour.
Recent winners at Nkana have included Wallie Coetsee in 2014 and England’s Ross McGowan in 2015.
The field
144 players – the full list here
The defending champion
Riekus Nortje
The course
Designed by Mark Wiltshire, Nkana Golf Club is an 18-hole woodland-style course built in 1930 and is presently under the management of Mopani Mines. The course has been receiving upgrades since 2014 when it first hosted the Zambia Open and those included the introduction of water features to two holes – the 15th and 18th – and changes to the pond on the 11th hole.
The latest upgrades include some new tees which have lengthened the course by nearly 500 metres, and the addition of some extra bunkering. It now plays at 6,580 metres or 7,196 yards.
The form player
On the basis of his second place last week, Daniel van Tonder looks like a good bet to go one better than his second-place finish behind Ross McGowan at the same course in 2015. Van Tonder closed with a 66 that year, and he closed with a 65 last week in Zimbabwe. He won twice in 2014, and he looks ready to add to that tally of Sunshine Tour titles.
The sentimental pick
Look no further than Madalitso Muthiya – again – to make Zambian hearts glad. He just couldn’t get out of the 70s last year, so if he can card a mid-60s round early on, he will get the wind in his sails and could end up being tough to catch.
The bolter
In his rookie season, Martin Rohwer finished 10th last year after a solid 67-68 finish, and, on the strength of his share of 20th in last week’s Old Mutual Zimbabwe Open, the 24-year-old from KwaZulu-Natal is clearly in good shape going back to a happy hunting ground.
Credit: Sunshine Tour
Photo: Johan Rynners/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
