Inclusion and teamwork are some of the themes highlighted by the maiden Series One Pro-Am Golf tournament held at Ikoyi Club 1938, Lagos on Sunday, 20 March 2022. The event was hosted by the Pro-Am Golf Group and sponsored by Giba Golf Nigeria and Zenera Consulting, amongst several other sponsors.
Aimed at supporting professional golfers while enabling amateur golfers to improve their game, the Series 1 Pro-Am tournament involved both amateurs and professionals from various clubs playing together in teams. Each team comprised three amateurs and one professional playing a stableford scoring format.
According to Fred Akalamudo of Giba Golf Nigeria, one of the major sponsors of the event, the tournament has been a success.
“I think it has been a highly successful competition,” said Akalamudo, who also played in the tournament, “The event was well attended by both spectators and players. Altogether, we had over 108 golfers who gave their best in a friendly but highly competitive atmosphere. Our aim is to support the pros and a big thank you to Ikoyi Club 1938 for providing this spectacular opportunity to achieve this.”
After an exciting game with stableford scoring format, the team composed of Peggy Onwu, Meka Olowola, Akeem Lawal and Monday Eze emerged the overall winners of the tournament with 126 stableford points ahead of O.J. Ebong, Peter Okeke, Tony Onwu and Akinwande Oladipo who came second with 124points, whilst the quartet of Paul Brisibe, Ogemdi Akalamudo, Fred Akalamudo and Friday Akpodiete came a close third with 123 points.
Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Meka Olowola, Managing Partner of Zenera Consulting, “We came out there today primarily to have fun and grateful to be able to participate in such an exciting tournament consisting of perhaps the best pros and amateurs. It is, therefore, gratifying to have been a part of the team that won the overall best team despite the quality of players on the course.” said Olowola, a member of the first-place winning team.
The tournament offered amateur golfers an opportunity to play competitive golf at an advanced level, thereby sharpening their skills while also promoting the professional golfers playing with them.
“More than often, amateur golf players see the professionals from afar,” said Ademola Osindero, Team Lead for the Pro-Am Golf Group.
“Here at Ikoyi Club 1938, we have been working with professionals for about a year during our weekly kitties and because of that experience, we play a lot better now. Therefore, we wanted more players to experience the quality of play and improvements in their games,” Osindero added.
