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PGAS CHALLENGE KING’S CUP GOLF COMMITTEE

14/04/2018 10:31:00 BY SABELO GWEBU

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MBABANE – It is not similar to the titanic hitting the iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean but the King’s Golf Cup Committee and PGAS are headed for a crash.

PGAS is an acronym for Professional Golfers Association of Swaziland. The latter has raised an outcry on not being involved by the King’s Cup Golf committee in recent tournaments despite them being custodians of professional golfing in the country.

The King’s Golf Cup will celebrate its 15-year anniversary this year and is a tournament that attracts professional golfers from across the globe. In a press briefing yesterday morning at Mbabane Golf Club, PGAS Board Chairman Maxwell Nkambule said his association had exclusive rights on professional golfers as guided by their constitution which was presented to Swaziland National Sports and Recreation Council (SNRSC) Business Development Manager Zama Tsabedze.

“International tournaments that do not involve us as custodian of professional golf are offside. We also have exclusive media rights on such tournaments and stakeholders must approach the Sports and Recreation office for direction. Every event, even international tournaments hosted by the country, must go through the relevant association,” Nkambule said.
PGAS’s press briefing was mainly on building awareness to golf stakeholders of their responsibilities as an association. The Professional Golfers Association has fully fledged offices in Manzini courtesy of Mashayinkonjane Butchery and hosts tournaments along with amateurs at Manzini Club.

PGAS’s concerns are around issues of national security as they will be taken to task if there is disorder in the tournament since the participants of the event are their affiliates.
Swaziland boasts 16 professional golfers, with some of their affiliates from outside the country’s borders.

A member of the King’s Golf Cup, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, admitted PGAS was not involved in recent years because ‘their house was not in order’.
“They had differences and did not have a permanent structure, so they were sidelined. In all honesty, PGA needs to put their house in order.

“When we started the tournament, they were part of the management committee along with Swaziland Golf Union as golf stakeholders in the country, but were sidelined along the way,” the source said.
The source added that when the tournament was launched in 2004, there was no mention of sports but rather about tourism enhancement.

Despite being a sport event, the flagship event in golf in the country, the King’s Cup Golf is seen as an event that promotes tourism and is spearheaded by the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs.