The first event of the 2025/26 season took place at Royal Harare Golf Club, Zimbabwe.
Mexican Luis Carerra fended off the challenge of Australian golfer Austin Bautista and Swedish golfer Fredrick From to claim his maiden Sunshine Tour victory in only his first start on the Sunshine Tour.
heat heat [Music] the fbc zim open marked the start of the sunshine tours new 202526 season a firm favorite on the calendar zimbabwe’s premier golf event once again surpassed all expectations as 156 players teed it up on opening day known for its superb greens royal hara golf club provided a stern test for the field it’s it’s a demanding course from all aspects of the game but it starts with your t-shots you got to find the fairways if you find the fairways you can at least go for some of the flags cuz coming out of the rough you can’t stop on the greens they’re firm so and missing greens around here you’re in a pretty bad spot so the the target is is to hit fairways and then at least from there you can you got some options to go for the flags toto timber jr here at the ninth making a superb birdie he’s third in a row but the back n got the better of him a 41 saw him signed for a two over 74 opening round tyran ryan is back on the sunshine tour after a 5-year hiatus he got his card back at q school and it was evident in his first tournament that he was happy to return to a familiar hunting ground the conditions of the courses are beautiful the greens are absolutely perfect so just to come here and the vibe here as well so nice with with everyone supporting the the 18th around the green there is just spectacular so it does it’s it’s a good warm feeling when you come here he made four birdies three bogeies and two eagles cutting a 5 under 67 mexico’s luis carrera a win of the sunshine tour qualifying school back in april got his tenure off to a dream start five straight birdies between the second and the sixth hole allowed him to search to the top of the standings two more birdies on the back nine were offset by bogeies at 10 and 11 i’m just happy to play a full schedule on a tour so um and i mean it’s uh coming here to simba it’s a nice way to start the schedule so this is how the leaderboard looked after day one in harare the evergreen henny otto rolled back the years against some of the sunshine tour’s youngest stars as he claimed top spot on the standings following a superb 66 the event is a wonderful opportunity for zimbabwean golf to showcase some of its rising stars 34 local players took part in the tournament which gave them the chance to begin their journey to greatness zim superstar robson chinoi opened with a one under 71 beginning his quest for a second sunshine tour victory and the second round four under 68 left him as the leading zimbabwean in the field it is a great spot here in zimbabwe we’ve got so many so many people playing very few golf courses but on those golf courses we’ve got so many juniors so many others playing so yeah i would say it’s it’s a great sports him up martin roa shot the low round of the day his 765 was brilliantly carved out as he didn’t drop a single shot armed with a new perspective after becoming a father mj felun also went around royal harari blemish free he’s six under 66 putting him firmly in contention i’m playing with a different mindset than last year in general so i think what i’ve been doing is just placing the ball you know yesterday i’ve mentioned to a couple of my mates that i kind of squed it a bit but um you know i played to the right places from the tea and if i was out of position i just got it back into position or onto the big side of the green luis carrera would end the day at top the leaderboard five birdies and an eagle enough to guide him past all challenges 666 he score on day two in zimbabwe i’ve been hitting some good t- shots and not much in trouble so um and around the greens i’ve been tripping good so that’s what made me play good very happy for how i started uh the season so far the mexican found himself just a single shot ahead of fel yun henny otto couldn’t quite replicate his first round heroics but his 71 was enough to keep him in the conversation golf in zimbabwe is entering a promising era of expansion and opportunity and it’s underpinned by increasing participation infrastructure upgrades and rising international visibility golf has always been one of our loves as a corporate entity it’s one of the sports that we love to sponsor that we love to participate in and we love to promote this is the fourth year running that the fbc zim open has been the premier sporting event on the zimbabwe sporting calendar it’s a total privilege i mean it’s not often that you have an opportunity to pair your brand with worldclass golfers from around the world so every year we participate we see it as an amazing opportunity not just to showcase our brand golden pulsa but for us to showcase our business delta beverages and the nation at large we’ve partnered with zimob for a number of years now and being a golfing company as well i mean there’s no greater place you know than coming here and seeing all the pros coming out and playing and uh and seeing effectively all the great game being played and being the best one in zimbabwe of course we’re always uh behind this and we’re always ready to support the zim open being people that are in the farming business we do understand how difficult it is to maintain the fairways we’ve seen the sort of divorce that were made by the guys that played in the pro but obviously very related to our kind of business farming greens uh everything that you can see here is very green and yeah very relevant to our business this is what we do and we really uh think it’s an important part that we should be playing in the sport is now growing at grassroots level thanks to public private partnerships aimed at broadening access mexico’s luis carrera and australia’s austin bautista the sunshine tours two newest q school graduates lit up the weekend at the fbc zim open as they chase their maiden sunshine tour victories at royal hara golf club the aussie was meticulous in his approach to the third round three front nine birdies were matched by three on the back as his bogey free 6 under 66 set him up to mount a serious charge for the title on the final day of play i know i’m a great golfer that’s a that’s a given i’ve been playing golf for a long time but being patient when maybe something doesn’t go your way hitting shots that you know require a lot of just certainty that you know where it’s going to go i had i mean i didn’t it’s hard because if you don’t make any bogeies you know you think you’re playing great but there comes a turn where you have to go deeper you have to you have to push the round lower and today i was able to do that um which i was happy about mj feloon wasn’t as fortunate however a few bad breaks on the back n ruined what was a brilliant start to the front with a rather fortuitous eagle two at the opening power four the highlight of his two under 70 round obviously started the eagle bar 30 birdie um was hitting the ball nicely and uh yeah just a couple of unlucky breaks on the back n but nothing nothing that i you know nothing that i can control so i’ll take it on the chin uh come back tomorrow and try again if there was anything zim supporters found out through the week it was that luis carrera can put this pt at the last kept him just ahead of the chasing pack a great up and down from the green side ana [Music] tooqi would take a one-shot advantage into the final round with batista close on his heels and felune just a further two shots at drift [Music] the final round of the fbc zim open was all set for a thrilling finish the overnight leader got off to a fiery start going pary eagle to stretch his lead at the top austin bautista found his first birdie of the day on the power 53 third as he looked to keep up with the flying mexican trevor fischer jr couldn’t quite get it going on the last day two birdies and three bogeies ending his challenge for the title but a solid week all round as he notched up a first top 10 finish of the campaign robson chinuay lived up to his billing as the local favorite finishing the tournament as the highest placed zimbabwean player in the field following his closing one under 71 which left him in a 4-way tie for seventh place jean hugo was the last player to win the sunshine tour qualifying school and then go on to win the first event of the season right here in zimbabwe back in 1999 the elder statesman had another impressive showing as he finished alone in sixth place following a final round two under 70 frederick from also had a good time on the royal har fairways he signed for rounds of 70 70 69 and 70 to finish in a tie of third place the sweet irregular on the circuit having a good week to kick off his campaign mj feloon was the man closest to mounting a charge on the leaders but he couldn’t quite close the gap it was a tough day for him as he posted a closing 75 to share third alongside from while the bloomfonte native faltered over the back n bautista and carrera traded blows with neither willing to give up easily the qualifying school graduates making their mark early on bautista the par five 12th to draw level with carrera on 15 under par with the mexican having dropped a shot at the 11th the q school winner however bounced back at the par 414th with this great birdie under pressure and he moved back to 16 under par bautista would bogy the par 315th to give carrera a two-shot advantage when the pair reached the par 516th often a decisive hole in this tournament they showed a bit of magic to thrill the ever growing crowds following them carrera with sublime hands around the green almost holding out for ego bautista followed and showed he has the nerve to play at this level with a bit of mastery of his own the australian unfortunately couldn’t convert his bird putt at the 16th he had to settle for par and couldn’t apply the pressure he would have liked to luis carrera stepped up and calmly converted from close range to extend his lead to three shots with two holes to play [Music] bautista finished the week with a par at the last to secure second place with a tournament total of 274 under par the man of the hour was newcomer luis carrera as he kept off a wonderful victory with a birdie at the last 18 under and comfortable enough in the end a fourshot win it was a good battle i um i started off good then it wasn’t as great but then at the end it was pretty good again so it was a great round mentally good so i’m happy for that it feels amazing that was the main goal this week and well accomplished so that’s pretty nice three internationals at the top in zimbabwe the sunshine tour’s first event of the season is over luis carrera the winner [Music] that’s the first week standing of the order of merit delivered by the korea guy a big thank you to all involved another magnificent week at royal hara golf club and the man with the trophy luis carrera from the highlights team in zimbabwe it’s goodbye for now heat heat [Music]
