The official course handover took place on Monday, marking the formal commencement of proceedings. A strong competitive field of at least 144 golfers from across the globe are expected to take to the greens with a contingent of at least 17 local golfers. For this year’s event, title sponsors FBC poured in a US$200 000 prize fund, making it one of the top tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. Sunshine Tour tournament director Gary Todd described the forthcoming season opener as one of the best tournaments. “From the Sunshine Tour perspective, this event is certainly way up there in our rankings. We did a survey a few years back and this came in tie with Leopard Creek, which obviously is an iconic golf course in South Africa and one of the co-sanctioned events. This event has grown every single year. Prize money has gone up in this event. So, that obviously compliments the organising committee on all the hard work they do behind the scenes,” said Todd. Last year’s tournament was won by Michael Hollick (-20) from South Africa who cruised to a two-stroke victory over Darren Fitchardt (-18). The amateur trophy was won by Mathew Bramford. Hollick will be going into this year’s event as the defending champion and said he is looking forward to yet another memorable outing on the fairways and greens of Royal Harare. “Getting ready for Zimbabwe Open where I will be coming back as the defending champion. I really cannot wait to get back to Zimbabwe, Royal Harare is a very special golf course and a very special place to me, and I cannot wait to see you guys out there,” said Hollick.