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Blessings Chidakwa, Harare Bureau

President Mnangagwa yesterday launched the inaugural Presidential Golf Day at Royal Harare Golf Club, urging Zimbabweans to embrace sports for relaxation.

With 176 players participating, he made history as the first Head of State and Government to visit the club in its 126-year existence.

Despite being a golf beginner, he found the experience relaxing, saying: “It’s quite interesting with the relaxation, you know. Everything goes out of your mind when you are considering this little ball.”

He emphasised the importance of sports in promoting education, particularly among young people, and expressed support for scholarship programmes.

President Mnangagwa is the founder and patron of the ED-UNZA (University of Zambia) Scholarship to the university where he is an alumni.

“Well, this is to promote the sending of students, the members of the golf club. I mean, it’s a good thing.

It’s a sport. So, they want young people to go to school and give them scholarships,” he said.

ED-UNZA Board of Trustees vice chairperson, Vimbai Nyemba, said it was befitting for the President to launch the Presidential Golf Day, as he is the founder of the scholarship programme.

She said the ED-UNZA Scholarship was meant to make sure children were educated, whatever their background.

“This is a fundraising initiative and for the President to be coming and putting the ball to make sure that we get funds for the students is awesome. It’s wonderful taking into account that his schedule is very busy.

“But he has taken time for this. This means the President is very serious about the issues of education.

He is actually even more serious about this scholarship fund. This is his personal idea. It’s not a Government thing.”

Sports and Recreation Commission chairman, Gerald Mlotshwa, said the launch was historic, adding that the trustees of the scholarship will be in charge of holding the event on an annual basis.

“Apart from the charitable initiative that this is all intended to be, it’s also a demonstration that no matter how busy we are, let’s take time out to engage in recreational activities, whether it’s golf, whether it’s any other sport. The President, His Excellency, demonstrated that today,” he said.

Royal Harare director, Simon Murungweni, described the visit by the President as a “very momentous occasion”.

“The President is a resident just next door, and it is the first time the President of the country has been at the golf course and hit a few shots, which is an inspiration for a lot of young sportsmen.

“It is a good combination in the sense that it gives young people hope, it gives young people something to aim for, it makes young people stay healthy, and over and above that, sport is about competition with the rest of the world,” he said.

“So I’m quite certain when a lot of young people see that the President is actually taking an interest in the sport, that will have quite a lot of motivation for the sport.”

Amateur golfers who had the privilege to play alongside President Mnangagwa, including Darlington Chikanyambidze and Keegan Shutt, said it was a lifetime experience.

“I really enjoyed it. I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous sitting in a golf pool in my life actually. It doesn’t even compare to some Open (a format of golf). I am just very grateful for playing with him,” said Shutt.

Commenting on being selected to play alongside the President, Shutt said: “I think it shows that a lot of the guys believed in me that I can do something, otherwise they wouldn’t have asked me to play with the President.”

Chikanyambidze also said the selection inspired him to aim for greater heights.