Golfers ready to defend country’s ZCup title

A large contingent of golfers from Antigua and Barbuda are set to defend the country’s title in the ZCup Golf Tournament which will be staged at the Marriot Gold Course in St. Kitts and Nevis this weekend.
The tournament, which pits the best golfers of both countries against each other in an annual competition, is in its third year.
Captain of the Antigua and Barbuda team, Tunka Williams, says his team aims to lift the title for a second straight year.
“Most of the players are out there on the course, working on their game with some of them on the driving range. I think I’ll say that we are about 99 percent ready because right now we are the holders of the cup and how we do it is that after the first three years, which of the two countries holds it [cup] the most times gets to keep that cup and we intend to keep it and bring it back to Antigua,” he said.
The team, Williams said, currently consists of 22 players with the possibility of increasing. This, he said, is a practice that is encouraged by the two competing countries.
“We invite as many people to be part of the team so we actually don’t exclude anybody because one of the rules of the team is whatever amount of players we can provide, the opposing team will match. So we want to take as many golfers as possible because we want to get full participation to make it really exciting, and so far this has been one of our largest turnout,” the team captain said.
As for the course, Williams said the players are actually looking forward to the challenges it presents.
“You have some challenges on the course as you have some water traps, like on hole number 7 and hole 12 which are long par threes with a lot of water around and you have a crosswind. so if you are not hitting that ball on point, then you are in trouble,” he said.
St. Kitts and Nevis captured the inaugural competition held 2015 in St. Kitts before Antigua and Barbuda won last year’s tournament held here at the Cedar Valley Gold Course.
The tournament opens Friday with match play before the individual match days on Saturday and Sunday.