The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Mohamed Ugasa
16 November 2007
The ninth edition of the East African Challenge Golf Trophy tees off in Bujumbura today, with five teams competing in the Ryder Cup formatted championship.
The Tanzanian team left for the event on Wednesday with a contingent that includes nine players, under head coach Charles Farrar, a Kenyan national. The team have arrived in Bujumbura and took time for a final practice session yesterday to acclimatize with the course hitches, The Citizen was told yesterday.
Other competing teams are Rwanda, Uganda, hosts Burundi and six times champions Kenya. Burundi hosts the event for the first time since the championship was inaugurated in 1999 at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club course.
Coach Farrar said players are in an upbeat mood, intending to excel in the tournament. The itinerary shows that there will be singles match play encounters with eight players from each team playing against opponents from other teams.
Going by the game's pedigree, the Kenyan side is expected to perform well, though Tanzanian coach Farrar says he also possesses a formidable side capable of staging upsets.
Elsewhere, the Tanzania ladies amateur open championship gets underway in Arusha with a record entry of 67 golfers from Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and the host country.
Uganda have entered three golfers while Kenya is leading the pack of foreign entries at 22 participants including stalwart Florence Maina.
Kenya's Mary Karano who last week retained the Uganda open title was also expected to arrive yesterday evening.
Title holder Hilda Edwards from Zambia was nowhere to be seen as the registration for players was just about to be closed yesterday.
Edwards won the title when the event was staged in Morogoro last year. Six times champion Sophia Viggo who finished third un Uganda open is competing to extend her glittering record.
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