Waterkloof Winter Wonderland Results

Twenty players kicked off Women's Month with a medal round at Waterkloof, all teeing off from the 10th. Tasara Masarira carded the best net score of the day, one-under net 71, holding off a field that bunched up tightly behind him.

Winner
Tasara Masarira (7)
Net 71, -1 vs par

Tasara's card had no big number on it anywhere. He went out in 35 across his first nine, holes 10 to 18, then came home in 36 on the closing stretch and never let the round get away from him. No real birdie run, no blow-up hole either, just a card that stayed clean all the way round. That was enough to win by a single shot.

Three net ones on the card

Belinda Masarira and Gerald Manyatelo shared second place on level-par net 72, with Belinda taking it on the tiebreak. Her round included the standout stat of the day: a net score of 1, the best a hole can return, on both the 15th and the 17th. Gillian Chikerema matched her on the 17th with a net 1 of her own, and Trust Masarirambi added a fourth one later in his round, on the 6th. Four net ones between three players in the same field is a rare enough sight to be the first thing anyone talks about from this event.

The rest of the top ten

Elsie Rateiwa and Cynthia Moraka both finished on net 74, two over par, a shot ahead of Ishmael Kapinda on 75. Gillian Chikerema's net 1 on the 17th wasn't quite enough to lift her card any higher than 76; a bumpy closing nine took back what that hole had given her. Lawrence Mubika and Socrates Zifamba both carded 77, and Trust Masarirambi's net 1 on the 6th helped him to 78 despite a shaky start to his round. Sikhumbuzo Ngono followed on 79.

Tied at nine over

Four players finished level on net 81: Gwen Muganhu, Kumbirai Mundangepfupfu, Shepherd Zimunya, and Carlyn Smith. Carlyn's card stood out from that group on its own terms. She went out in 44 and came home in 37, a seven-shot turnaround that was the best recovery anyone in the field put together. Sir Mario Mawaro sat alone on 82 next, with a round that had no real high points and no real disasters either.

Down the leaderboard

Brighton Jakata, Connie Maswanganyi, and Nothando Moyo all finished on net 83. Brighton carries the lowest handicap of that trio at 11, but a net 7 on the 5th kept his card from matching it. Arnold Muganhu closed out the field on net 87. His first nine went badly wrong, a 48 that included three 7s and a 9 on the 18th, but he settled down after the turn and played his closing nine in 39.

Net scoring by hole

By net score, three holes stood out for the field: the 6th, 15th, and 17th each averaged under three and a half strokes, and between them they produced all four net ones of the day. At the other end, the 14th returned the highest net average, just under six, with the 7th and the 2nd close behind it. Since these are net figures, they say more about where the field's handicap strokes landed than about the course itself, but the pattern still made for a lopsided-looking card on most sheets.

Congratulations to Tasara on the win, and to Belinda, Gillian, and Trust for the net ones. Full scores for all twenty players are in the leaderboard alongside this report.