By FELIX MALUNGA –

A STRONG field of 75 players yesterday begun the chase for the prestigious 2014 Zambia Ladies Amateur Open Stroke Play Championship at Nkana Golf Club in Kitwe with title holder, Melissa Nawa facing a fierce challenge.
Nawa’s arch rivals to her title include her younger sister, Tina, Zambia Ladies Amateur Open Match Play champion, Kaela Musonda, Lornah Mwenda and Miliase Siame among several others.
Zambia Ladies Golf Union (ZLGU) president, Moono Mwila said the union expected an exciting weekend in Kitwe as the nation’s top players battle for honurs.
Mwila said in an interview yesterday that Zambia’s top players in all divisions and 10 new golfers, who include nine-year-olds, would also be showcasing their skills at Nkana.
“Last year, the tournament was won by Melissa Nawa. So they are all playing, Melissa is playing, Tina Nawa is playing. Basically all top players are playing, Kaela Mulenga is also playing as well. So it will be an exciting tournament for us. We are especially impressed with the total number of entries we’ve got. We’ve top players in all divisions and 10 new golfers playing this weekend plus girls as young as nine,” Mwila said.
She, however, regretted that ZLGU could not get foreign players to participate in this year’s event because of the tournament’s proximity to the just-ended All Africa Challenge Trophy in Kenya.
“A field of 75 ladies, all local unfortunately, will be playing in the  Zambia Ladies Amateur Open Stroke Play which runs from today to Sunday at Nkana Golf Club in Kitwe. We couldn’t get any foreign players due to the proximity to the just-ended All Africa Challenge in Kenya. Financially, i think it could have been very difficult for the foreign players to travel to Zambia,” Mwila said.
The ZLGU president said the union managed to raise the budgeted K50,000 needed to stage the championship from various sponsors.