The Sunday Mail
ONE of the simmering sub-plots of the annual Zimbabwe Golf Open is whether or not any of the country’s local golfers will ever manage to end South Africa’s dominance of the competition.
While there have been many pretenders to the throne, each with a unique cases to be made, many have tried and failed dislodge South Africa from the top. Marc Cayeux is the only local to come the closet to winning the trophy, when he finished third in 2010.
This was shortly after the competition’s seven-year hiatus (2002-9).
Unfortunately, Cayeux’s career then took a tragic turn when a horrific road accident left him needing at least 27 surgeries and five years of rehab just so he could walk again. Scott Vincent then finished fifth in 2016, four shots behind eventual winner Lyle Rowe of South Africa, but has since missed the last two editions.
Since Mark McNulty’s win, the last Zimbabwean to do so back in 2000, South Africa has made the competition their own.
Among the list winners since, are the likes of Darren Fichardt (2001), Jbe’ Kruger (2010, 2014), Theunis Spangebberg (2011), Chris Swanepoel (2012), Jake Roos (2013), Dean Burmester (2015), Lyle Rowe (2016) and J.C. Ritchie (2017) all finishing top of the leader board.
Now, as the competition prepares to tee-off this Thursday, the mantle of carrying the country’s hopes to break the streak falls on the head of United States-based golfing sensation Bruce McDonald.
Of all the names to challenge the streak, McDonald may have the biggest claim given his influence by Nick Price, the country and tournament’s most successful golfer. Price is the only golfer to win the competition three times, including back to back in 1997 and 1998 and happens to be a close personal friend of McDonald, who has been mentoring the 37-year-old for years now.
“Nick Price was my idol in my teenage years, shortly after golf became a huge part of my life,” McDonald.
“I first met him in 1997 when I competed in the Zimbabwe Open as a 15-year-old amateur and I won the low amateur qualifying section and he won the tournament. “During my senior year at university In the United States, Nick reached out to me on his own accord and we spoke on the phone for a bit.
“He invited me to come practise with him for a few days in Florida, and we now chat often, spending three to four days once or twice a year in the winter time. I’m very fortunate to call him a friend and mentor,” he said.
McDonald views winning this year’s competition, slated for April 19-21, as the realisation of a childhood dream and the perfect tribute to his friend and mentor.
“We all grew up as juniors wanting to play in and win the Zimbabwe Open,” he said. “Winning the tournament would be a very special moment for me and the perfect way to pay homage to my idol and friend Nick Price,” he said.
Born March 10, 1981, McDonald is a product of the country’s thriving development programme, but got into golf merely for leisure purposes at first. “I picked up golf when I went to high school at St George’s College, but it was something to do in the school holidays.”
While his main sports were rugby and cricket, a golfing scholarship to study in the United States changed all that.
“Getting a scholarship to study in the US and earning my bachelor degree in Business Management is one of my proudest achievements as it opened up avenues for me to both study and further hone my golfing skills,” he said.
McDonald is now based in the United States, and will be hoping to use his time there, and the experienced he earned, to win the Zim Open.
“College golf is so competitive in the United States, and it threw me into the deep end coming from a small country like Zimbabwe.
“It also let me know if I had what it takes to keep playing and competing in golf and now I hope all that time and experience start bearing fruit and I win Zimbabwe Open,” he said.
