Eighty-seven professional golfers teed off at the Meristem Open, the inaugural event of the Professional Golfers Development Tour, which Adefemi Taiwo, Meristem’s Head of Brand and Corporate Communication, said she hopes will be the beginning of a new era in professional golf development in Nigeria that would spread across the continent.
“We would love to galvanise support for the immense talents that we have seen in professional golf. And given also different high points from the professional standpoint, a lot can be achieved for the betterment of all stakeholders,” she said.
Four players registered 69 three under par on the opening day of the Professional Development Golf Tour managed by Meristem Securities to set the tone for a weekend of hostilities at the Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estate, Lagos.
Ikoyi Club 1938’s duo of Sunday Olapade and Francis Epe kept the charge from the home front, while Kouame Richard from Cote d’Ivoire and Vincent Torgah from Ghana joined in sharing the spotlight on the opening day.
Golf Manager at the host club, Femi Olagbenro, said the performance of the players frankly described the quest for regular playing time by the professionals.
“The scores today are encouraging and fully speak to the need for active playing time by the professionals. The PGD Tour will complement whatever other stakeholders have on the plate for professional golf development and I am confident the scores will even get better,” he said.
In fifth place, two shots off the four first-round leaders, is Friday Akpodiette, while Gift Willy, Enoch Owusu, Mohammed Kabir Haruna, Francis Christopher and Abubakar Mustapha are tied in sixth place.
Other top players lurking close to the leaders ahead of the second-round play include former Nigeria number one player, Nojeem Sofela, Liman Mohammed, Chukwudi Okoro and Paul Patrick, who all shot 73, one over par.
Kamalu Bako, Nigeria’s current number-one ranked professional golfer is five shots adrift of the joint-leaders. The Meristem Open has a prize purse of N10 million and will be decided over three-day play, which ends at the course of Lakowe Lakes Golf Club, tomorrow.
Source: The Guardian
