KEEGAN Shutt is set to play in his second successive golf World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) to be hosted by the Emirates Golf Federation in Abu Dhabi from 14-23 October 2023.
David Amm and Michael Wallace will join Shutt in a strong Zimbabwe Amateur three-member delegation coached by Simon Murungweni.
Amm, one of the country’s best amateurs, will captain the side.
Speaking at the team’s unveiling ceremony on Friday at Chapman Golf Club, Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) president Martin Chikwana was happy that the country had qualified for the tournament.
“We need to applaud Zimbabwe’s qualification for this event, given how small we are as a golfing nation. WATC is arguably the most important golf event in any amateurs’ lifetime; it’s where the best of the best get to play in one place,” he said.
Zimbabwe finished 61 out of 72 at WATC in Paris, France, last year. However, this year, the format has been reduced to 36 teams, and Zimbabwe will be one of the three countries representing the African continent alongside South Africa and Morocco.
Team selection is always tricky, and selecting the team representing Zimbabwe at the 33rd men’s championship for the Eisenhower Trophy took work.
“The selection of the team was a rigorous process. Members of the selection team led by Dr Mutopo had to burn the midnight oil to ensure that the best players on the local and international scene were selected.
“The process didn’t look at the order of merit and World Amateur ranking, but it went further and looked at the stroke average of all the players available for selection,” Chikwana added.
Modern methods that rely on statistics also inform the selection process because numbers do not lie.
“This comprehensive and more accurate system gave us a picture of how each player was performing over a period of time. The team went further and did a head-to-head assessment of the top players to ensure that none was prejudiced,” added ZGA president.
This year’s event, to be hosted in Abu Dhabi, marks the first time the event, which dates back to 1958, will be held in the Middle East.
