Parker recovers to win Namibian Open title

Golf
Staff Reporter
  • 1 Hour Ago

Todd Parker and Wilna Bredenhann were crowned champions of the Namibian Open golf championship at the Windhoek Golf Club on Sunday.

Overcoming a slow start, Parker managed to win the one local prize that had evaded him before he had left the country to study accounting in the USA.

Parker won the men’s championship with a total of 216, finishing nine strokes ahead of Edwin Kutara, with Jackson Kawaya third on 229.

Parker, who also recently represented the Namibian men’s team at the Africa Region 5 championship in Eswatini, was playing at home for the first time in about three years.

Kutara took the lead initially with a par 72 for the first round, but had a poor second round (nine-over par 81).

Parker, following his opening round of 77, shot to the top of the leaderboard with a three-under par 69.

In Sunday’s final round, Parker carded a two-under par 70 to finish nine strokes ahead of Kutara.

Parker said: “It was my first tournament back home for quite a long time, so I felt quite nervous and under pressure to win a local tournament again and I got off to a shaky start. After nine holes, I was three over par and only three shots ahead of Edwin, while the other competitors were also closing in on me, so I knew I had to be at my best over the last nine holes,” he says.

“In the final round I played some solid golf. I made five birdies and I shot five under par on my last nine holes to shoot a two under par 70 for the final round, which put me at level par for the whole tournament,” he says.

“After starting off poorly and then playing some of the best golf I’ve played in a very long time was just great, and I feel very good about this win. I was very proud of it and it was amazing to play in front of the local crowd again.

Meanwhile Henties Bay Golf Club’s Wilna Bredenhann won the women’s championship with a gross score of 174, two strokes ahead of Sesilia Nkosi, while Natasja Louw had the best nett score of 143, followed by Alvine Samuel on 148.

Ninety-four players participated in total. The Windhoek Golf Club extends its heartfelt thanks to the Junior Golf Federation of Namibia and the Namibia Ladies Golf Union for their generous sponsorship of the Namibian Open.

• Catch up with Todd Parker as a guest on our weekly show Gooi Kole (Friday 13:30 on NTV and https://oneuptwo.com/