By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –

LOCAL professional Patrick Mwendapole on Tuesday shot one-under-par 72 to help his team win the Lusaka Golf Club Pro-Am, the first prelude to today’s Zambia Sugar Open proper.
On a sunny day and perfect for golf, Mwendapole with his team mates in Henry Jere, Arian Mohan and Harrison Maanga brought home 92 points to finish top in the Lusaka Golf Club sponsored Pro-Am.
Mwendapole was excitement with his score and said it was a good sign as he got ready for the Open proper which is littered with top class professionals mainly from South Africa.
“It’s good to score the way I did and I am happy for my team but everyone knows that it is all about the Open proper that and there, I am hope to do well,” he said.
The 92 score that Mwendapole and his team brought was actually won after a count back with second place finishers led by South Africa professional Divan van de Hever following a tie.
Van de Hever had in his team amateur players in Henie Melwane, Zlatan Arnoutovic and Aroun Chadhaand while they felt they came so close to winning the title, they kept the third place finishers in a safe distance.
The team finishing third was led by another South African professional Francois Coetzee on 90 points. Coetzee had teamed up with amateurs Humphrey Kabwe, Richard Phiri and Franca Rocci.
In the subsidiary prizes, the nearest-to-the-pin accolade went to Harrison Maanga crashed in on the party on the 11th Hole.
With the awards spread out on all the four short holes on the course, three other players in Raphiel Phiri was the best player on hole number-nine with Denmark Mulambo, one of the amateurs taking part in the Zambia Sugar Open that tees off today, won the same award on the sixth hole while Bertie Serfontein crowned it all up on the 16th.