Pienaar wins first Namibian Open title

The Namibian Ladies Open took place at Windhoek Golf and Country Club last weekend and what an amazing event it was, with players from Botswana joining the field for the second consecutive year.

A new tradition is being established between the two neighbouring countries, supporting each other's Ladies Golf Opens.

With all the rain lately, the Country Club course was in the best condition in a year. The dense rough made play challenging and course management was the order of the day. The ladies thoroughly enjoyed the tournament.

Unfortunately the 2017 winner, Nina Grey of South Africa, could not attend this year to defend her title. Adri Pienaar took advantage of this local knowledge to take home the overall honours as the Namibian Ladies Open champion 2018 – her first national title.

Veteran Wilna Bredenhann played a round of 82 on day one, with Adri Pienaar two shots behind.

Day two started with a double drop for both Wilma and Adri. After a birdie at hole 3 for Adri, she kept makings pars and played a 39 over the first nine holes.

Wilna fought back during the second nine and closed the gap towards the end, although she couldn't stop Adri from winning by four shots.

The overall nett prize was won by Angie Lohmann.

The A division gross winner was Wilna Bredenhann (172), B division gross winner Suzette Vermeulen (211), B division nett winner M. Tabengwa from Botswana (156), and C division winner P. Moseki also from Botswana (62 points).

The Namibia Amateur Ladies Golf Union (NALGU) would like to express its gratitude to Nashua Namibia and the Namibian Breweries for their continued and generous sponsorship of this event.

• NALGU had its AGM meeting past Saturday and one new member was selected, namely Hileni Sheenuka as the new secretary.

The president is Brenda Lens, vice-president Adri Pienaar and treasurer Loide Ngenokesho. The new NALGU committee is looking forward to its two-year term, focusing on developing ladies golf throughout Namibia.



NAMIBIAN MEN'S OPEN

First National Bank is the main sponsor of the Namibian Open tournament held at the Country Club course tomorrow and Sunday.

A number of professional golfers will play as part of the same draw, although the separate pro competition is sponsored by Dundee Precious Metals.

This format presents the amateurs with a good opportunity to measure their skills against the professionals.

The tee-off times at the first tee are as follows:

07:15 Niel Theron (pro), Graeme Fransman (pro).

07:25 Brendan Britten (pro), Frans Hamunyela (pro), Johannes Mungolo (pro).

07:35 Erickson Hatutale (pro), Joe Nawanga (pro), Stefan Erickson (pro).

07:45 Paulus Shimoshili (pro), Quinton du Preez (pro), Herman Namene (pro).

07:55 Likius Nande (Rössmund), Grant Mather (Walvis Bay), Kevin Wentzel (Walvis Bay).

08:05 Stanley Gawanab (Walvis Bay), Conrad Hanamub (Oranjemund), Walter Heibeb (Tsumeb).

08:15 W. Proffit (Rössmund), E. Geinub (Oranjemund), D. Da Silva (WGCC).

08:25 J. Amutenya (Oranjemund), L. Duvenhage (Walvis Bay), P. van Aarde (Walvis Bay).

08:35 C. Swartz (WGCC), T. Hailenga (Tsumeb), M. Vollgraaff (WGCC).

08:45 XL Xhang (WGCC), A. Bonifatius (Rössmund), H. Ndjendja (Rössmund).

08:55 I. Wood (WGCC), C. de Koe (Oranjemund), J. Mather (Walvis Bay).

09:05 W. Louw (WGCC), D. Kock (Walvis Bay), L. Chivende (Tsumeb).

09:15 U. Amukwaya (Tsumeb), J. Brand (Omeya), S. van der Merwe (Omeya).



Tenth tee

07:15 Elias (Apix) Mulombwelwa (pro), Christiaan Fillemon (pro).

07:25 Glen de Waal (pro), Hafeni Nghinamwaami (pro), Nieuwoudt Hendrikse (pro).

07:35 Stefanus Bonifatius (pro), Hans Naobeb (pro), Edwin Kutara (pro).

07:45 T. Burger (Tsumeb), C. Haoseb, S. Matheus (WGCC).

07:55 J. Martin (WGCC), C. Beuke (WGCC), C. Lohmann (Omeya).

08:05 C. Sachse (Omeya), M. Shoozi (Omeya), W. Els (Walvis Bay).

08:15 M. van Schoor (WGCC), W. Singoro (WGCC), J. Katti (WGCC).

08:25 T. Shinedima (WGCC), L. Tshoopara (WGCC), W. Theron (Walvis Bay).

08:35 B. Erasmus (WGCC), I. Suze (WGCC), M. Sevelus (Rössmund).

08:45 F. Oosthuizen (WGCC), C. Abrahams (WGCC), G. Jung (WGCC).

08:55 T. Gurirab (WGCC), P. Grobler (WGCC), M. Kapewasha (WGCC).

09:05 J. Rayners (Tsumeb), K. Johnson (Tsumeb), H. Tilahun (WGCC).