During its invite-only Pro-Am warm-up game, the eighth annual Joburg Ladies Open International Golf Tournament collected over R10K for dignitary pads meant for disadvantaged schoolchildren in Alexandra, north of Joburg. The Joburg Ladies Open Pro-Am, themed “Dignity for a Girl Child,” partnered with grocery store Spar to launch the Birdies drive, which will see the multinational retailer contribute a dignity sanitary pack for each professional golfer’s birdie for the duration of the tournament.

At the Pro-Am prize presentation event on Tuesday, 28 February, Bongi Mokaba, the tournament’s promoter and City’s Director of Event Management declared “this year’s edition is a tournament with a purpose”.

In addition to the tournament’s collaboration with Spar on the Birdies for Dignity programme, Mokaba said the Ladies Open has now added the Splash for Dignity campaign, in which invited amateur players were penalised for each ball that landed up in a pond during the Pro-Am.

“I’m delighted that through this project we have raised and collected over R10 000 rands. Amateur golfers made 26 birdies, while pros made 77 birdies,” said an ecstatic Mokaba, who added that the birdies for dignity campaign will continue throughout the tournament.

The Joburg Ladies Open began on Tuesday, 28 February, with an invite-only Pro-Am, where 132 professionals and amateur golfers took to the fairways to promote the sport among women in Johannesburg.

Innocentia Motua, owner of Itu Golf Wear and Itu Foundation, donated R5K to the dignity pack initiative and invited other golfers to follow suit.

On Monday, 6 March, the Executive Mayor, Cllr Thapelo Amad, will deliver the collected packets to Zenzeleni Primary School in Alexandra.

Mokaba was moved by what was said when the City visited Zenzeleni to share the project with its principal.

She noted that the principle informed the Joburg Ladies Open delegation that when pubescents at the school go through puberty, which is the process of physical and hormonal changes that occur throughout adolescence, they find it difficult to leave the classroom during lunch break.

“On some days, the girls miss classes because they can’t go to school,” the principal explained.

Mokaba said that the City developed the dignity pack project as part of the tournament to restore a girl child’s dignity.

“Girls should never miss class because they are going through their menstrual cycle,” she said.

The Joburg Ladies Open International Golf Tournament – a professional women’s golf event is hosted by the City of Johannesburg to make the sport accessible to females. It is co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the Sunshine Ladies Tour. The tournament is presently underway at the Modderfontein Golf Club in the eastern suburbs of Johannesburg.

Written By Luyanda Lunika

01/03/2023