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Elton Zulu (left) with Matabeleland Golf Association president Vusi Sinyoka

ELTON Zulu produced a solid performance, closing with a level-par 72 to claim a three-shot victory over Blessing Gondo at the 2025 Harry Allen Classic held at Harry Allen Golf Club in Bulawayo over the weekend.

Zulu carded four-over-par 220 to secure the championship, his third victory of the season.

This year marked the first time the Harry Allen Classic was recognised as a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) event, attracting a highly competitive field. Speaking after his win, Zulu said he was pleased to have secured the title. He added that for Sunday’s final round, he returned to the approach he used during Saturday morning’s opening round. “I came here trying to get WAGR points and it feels good to have won. After Singapore and Harare Amateur I took a bit of a tumble and being able to come here and get this win, my ranking will improve a bit which is good going into Next Year. “The course was a bit tougher than we expected, we didn’t know to what extent the rains had come down, the rough was a bit overgrown so it was about trying to place the ball where you can play it. Today (Sunday) I came back with the same thought process which I had in the morning on Saturday and it worked out well because I shot the same score as I did in the morning yesterday (Saturday),” said Zulu. Zulu opened the tournament, the penultimate event on the 2025 Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) calendar, with a level-par 72 on Saturday morning before posting a four-over-par 76 in the second round later that day. He then carded another 72 to hold off Gondo’s challenge. Gondo finished on seven-over-par 223, with rounds of 73, 74 and 76. Matabeleland Golf Association (MGA) president Vusi Sinyoka said: “This was a very good tournament. We had an impressive turnout for our last event, and as the inaugural WAGR edition of the Harry Allen Classic, the response was excellent. We are grateful to clubs around the country and to the championship players who made time to compete. We are pleased with the numbers we achieved; we did very well considering this was our first time hosting it as a provincial tournament.” With Zulu and Gondo finishing first and second respectively, Darlington Chikanyambidze secured third place on 15-over-par 231, with rounds of 76, 75 and 80.

The final event on the 2025 ZGA calendar is the Platinum Classic, scheduled for Norton Golf Club this coming weekend.