Olawale Ajimotokan, Mongomo Equatorial Guinea
Peter Kamis of South Africa over the weekend won the 3e Actuaries Equatorial Guinea Open Championship in Mongomo in his first appearance, beating Robert Follet-Smith of Zimbabwe in a play off.
Kamis saved par and bagged the 30,000 dollars winner’s cheque after Follet-Smith’s approach to the ninth found water.
The tournament was reduced to a 54-hole contest after rain disrupted the third round and forced about half of the field to complete the round the following morning.
Kamis and Follet-Smith tied at -9 under par to force a two-way play off.
Kamis, a multiple winner on the Sunshine Tour of South Africa, hit 13 of 14 fairways and made seven birdies en-route to the tournament’s benchmark round of 66.
“It feels special to win this tournament on my first try. Though we had the rain that cut the play, I had a good round and putted very well. I hit a lot of good half chances and gave myself the chance to be in the mix. I had a good run, but to be fair, Mongomo is very generous off the tee. The pressure comes on the green, which is very small and shallow, ” the Cape Town-born golfer said.
Follet-Smith, who led the pack through 36 holes, birdied holes 14, 15 and 16. A double bogey at the par 5 10th plus the three putts he took at the 17th handed Karmis a route into the play off.
US PGA player, Charlie Wi and Luke Joy of England tied for third at seven under par, Jared Harvey (South Africa), in fifth; Xavier Puig of Spain, sixth; Modalitso Muthiya (Zambia), seventh; and Peter Gusfaffson of Sweden, Michael Cairns of Zimbabwe and Matthew Carvell of South Africa tied for eight.
Andrew Oche Odoh was the best Nigerian and West African performer in 12th position. The 2013 and 2015 champion closed at level par 216 over 54 holes.
He and Sunday Olapade, in 16th position, are the only Nigerian professional players that will have automatic invitations to play the Equatorial Guinea Open next year.
Haruna K. Mohammed (42) SJ Odegha (43), Daniel Pam (45) Elisha Markus (48) and Gift Willy (withdrawal) suffered for inadequate local tournaments and found it tough competing on a global stage of 60 players.
Elin Arvidsson of Sweden won the Virgin de Guadaloupe trophy for ladies with a score of three under par, beating both Sophie Walker of England and Belgium’s Sophie Leurquin by one shot.
“This win is very special because I have never never played this course before and the experience is different from what I am used to in my normal life in the US and Sweden,” Arvidsson, who plays on the Symetra Tour said.
Nigeria’s starlet, Georgia Oboh, shot a final day 78 in the amateur event, an improvement on the opening rounds of 92, 81.
