Distell Rossmund open Championship

Stanley Gawanab causes upset at the 2018 Distell Rossmund Open Championship.

The Rossmund Golf Course played hosts over the weekend to the 2018 Distell Rossmund Open Championship weather conditions were almost perfect and the course – especially the greens were in an excellent condition.
Unfortunately again this year the tournament only managed to attract a field of 45 players representing clubs such as Windhoek, Omeya, Tsumeb, Gobabis, Henties Bay, Walvis Bay and Rossmund – this was mainly due to our juniors participating in South Africa and the absence of all those golfers who opted during 2017 to become part of the Namibian Pro Tour – numbers are also adversely effected by the current economic climate.
The Championship is an official event on the NAGU Calendar with Merit points on offer to those vying for a place in the Namibian Team. Play commenced at 7.30 am on Saturday morning – weather was a bit windy and on the cool side but soon brightened up.
Stanley carded a par round for his first 18 holes whilst Defending Champion Likius Nande came in with a one over par 73 together with Anton Bonifatius. Round 2 brought Gabriel Shikodi into the mix with a 73 gross; Stanley carding a 77 gross and Likius a disappointing 83 gross – giving Gabriel a one shot lead going into Round 3. Willie van Zyl and Mario Polster were standing firm after day one in the “B” Division ending the day with a one shot difference.
Achmet Abrahams was stamping his authority in the “C” Division carding an 84 gross – 9 shots ahead of his nearest rivals Steven Johns and Tienie van Rens-burg. Sunday morning early it was down to business in similar conditions overcast and windy – despite a fight back from Likius shooting a par round for the day – Stanley managed to steal the title by one shot.
President of NAGU Marco Swarts thanked Distell for their continuous support of Golf throughout Namibia especially during the current economic climate; he thanked Rossmund Golf Course for the use of the course and also the staff for all their hard work and effort that went into preparing it for the tournament. He had a special word of thanks for the RGC Committee for ensuring that the tournament ran smoothly.
Sponsors representative Carien Siemens said she was delighted to be a part of the tournament and thanked all the players for taking part. She confirmed that Distell were committed to supporting golf throughout Namibia and looks forward to the 2019 season.
NAGU used the occasion to congratulate Likius on having been chosen as the 2018 Namibian Sportsman of the Year and to announce the three top golfers who together with a wild card – to be announced in the New Year – will make up the new Namibian Team that will take part in the Region 5 Tournament to be held at Rossmund in April 2019 being: Likuis Nande; Kevin Wentzel and Stanley Gawanab. He requested the players to give their utmost and to grab this opportunity to compete on home soil.
RESULTS:
Overall Gross Winner (Champion) S Gawanab 226; Overall R/U Gross: L Nande 227; Overall Nett: T Shitaleni 216; Overall R/U Nett: G Mather 222. “A” Division Gross: F Hanekom 229 c/o; Gross R/U: G Shikodi 229; Nett: A Bonifatius 223; Nett R/U: W Profitt 227. “B “Division: Gross Winner: M Polster 249; Gross R/U: W van Zyl 253; Nett Winner: E Venter 235 c/o; Nett R/U: H Smidt 235. ”C“Division Gross Winner: A Abrahams 176; Gross R/U: S Johns 185; Nett Winner: T van Rensburg 147; Nett R/U: L Steven 155.