By Neo Kolane
Nedbank Lesotho officially launched the Nedbank Mohokare Golf Classic 2022 edition in Maseru on Wednesday this week.
The Classic dubbed ‘Lesotho’s Major’ remains a wonderful platform for sportsmanship, friendship and business networking for participants, sponsors and supporters alike.
The Golf Classic is a key attraction for sports tourism and hospitality in the country, as it has always hosted players and visitors alike locally and from the nearby SAC countries, including South Africa, Botswana and Eswatini.
Speaking at the launch, the managing director of Nedbank Lesotho, Nkau Matete announced the classic will be returning to the local sports scenes on March 18-19.
Matete suggested that as Nedbank they looked at the opportunity that the Mohokare represents the county and the region and felt it was important to bring it back on the sports calendar.
“The last tournament was held in October 2019 which marked the 16th edition of the Classic with Nedbank Lesotho’ direct sponsorship being M250 000.
“This year we are increasing the sponsorship funding to M350 000 in order to accelerate the growth, quality, and experience of the tournament,” Matete said.
Matete added that another important milestone of the tournament is that every year there is a growing number of youth and women participants in the Classic, including some of previous years’ winners who have advanced in the sport of golf.
He said this is an achievement Nedbank Lesotho wants to see more of and commit to supporting both now and in the future.
“The sponsorship also gives us a unique opportunity to showcase and market our banking and digital solutions to our customers in order to help them grow personally and in their businesses.
These solutions are part of the way in which as an enterprise in financial services we enable our local economy to grow and to unleash its potential,” Matete remarked.
He added: “These are but some of the reasons that as Nedbank Lesotho we continue to provide key corporate sponsorship of the Classic, over the length of its long and rich history.”
The Mohokare organising committee chairperson, Mpeake Sekhibane waxed lyrical about the partnership with Nedbank Lesotho, noting it has grown from strength to strength over the years.
The tournament has also attracted a number of other local corporate sponsors.
Sekhibane said the organising committee wishes to thank Nedbank Lesotho for its unwavering support and is looking forward to welcoming golfers to this year’s tournament and called for enhanced support to ensure that the international event preparations are accelerated.
“We excitedly await the commencement of this prestigious tournament,” Sekhibane concluded.
