Friday, November 1, 2024

Golfers tee up for Dr Kim’s Invitational Championship

At least 60 golfers are expected to take part in the 2nd Edition of the Dr Kim Invitational Golf Championship, billed for the Francistown Golf Club, during the weekend of July 31.
The championship pits the best local players from the south-based clubs against players from north-based clubs.

For the second year running, the tournament is sponsored by Dr Kim’s family to the tune of P25 000.
With no prize money in the teams’ category, a battle is expected in the professional category where members of the Botswana Professional Golf Association are to compete for P10 000 in prize money.
Roger Lal, the Executive Secretary of the Botswana Golf Union (BGU), said that the winner of the Professional category will walk away with P7000 while the 2nd placed player will take P3000.
Lal says there is no reward for any position behind the top two.

Schoolboy Thekiso, who won last year’s inaugural championship, will be hoping to defend his title against four other local professional players who have been invited for the championship.
The four hopefuls are last year’s runners up, James Samson, Edwin Madigela, Thapelo Pabalinga and Trevor Johwa.

Lal told Standard Sport that the professionals are expected to play a total of 54 holes in two days. They will play 34 holes on the first day while the remaining 18 will be played during the tournament’s last day.

In the teams’ category, the North will be hoping to retain the championship it won last year. Lal says the team category involves 16 players each from both the north and the south. The teams will be divided into two divisions, being A and B divisions.

Lal says teams in Division A will, just like the professionals, play 54 holes over two days, with 36 holes played in the first day and the last 18 on the last day.

The Division B teams will only play 36 holes of only 18 holes per day for the two day event.
A press release from the BGU says the tournament is held as a remembrance to the late Dr Kim who came to Botswana in December 1967 under the Korean Government Agency as a volunteer surgeon. He was attached to Jubilee Hospital in Francistown where he worked until passing away on the 4th July 1999.

The press release further states that “as part of assistance to the needy in our community, the family of Dr. Kim will this year donate blankets, food and petrol to the Pelegano Orphanage in Makaleng Village”.

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