Golf: CIO Classic Pulls Biggest Professional Field in the Country

More than 100 professional golfers from Nigeria and other African countries have entered for the Nigeria Professional Golf Tour’s biggest purse-event. The event, is billed for Python Golf Club, in Port Harcourt Rivers State.

With N22 million total prize purse for the professional, the event which started yesterday will run till Sunday, November 12th 2023.

Chief Executive Officer of the sponsoring company, Keves Global Leasing Limited, Chief Ikenna Okafor, said the event is the company’s effort to contribute to the development of golf, a sport he believes should be at the root of rebuilding the moral structure of the African child.

According to him; “This is our effort in promoting the game of golf. The honesty, accountability, and self-discipline that the game promotes are core to the development of a great personality.”

Top players from Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Namibia, and Rwanda will be filling-out with leading players on the Nigeria Tour to vie for the 2023 honours.

“Our goal is to create a platform to expose and celebrate the leading professional golfers on the continent, and I must say some of the best are in Nigeria. And we hope that this event will also become the biggest reward for their talents as well,” Okafor added.

The event commenced on Sunday, November 5th, with the Junior players round, while Caddies will join the fray today.

“The Junior members and caddies have been the most viable funnels for recruitment into the game, and their involvement is to deepen our reach into the demographics, with our strategic objective.”

Ikoyi-based defending champion of the event, Sunday Olapade has already arrived at the par 72 Python Club, where he hopes to face some of the stiffest challenges on the Tour for the event.

The current leader of the Nigeria Tour, Francis Epe, Kamalu Bako of IBB International Golf and Country Club, Mike Ubi and Gift Willy from Python Club will be hoping to wrest the title as well, especially as opposition from top players across the continent strengthens. They include: Ghana’s Vincent Torgah, Nelson Mudanyi from Kenya, Ronald Rugumayo from Rwanda, and Paulino Kasoma from Namibia.

The event will wind-up with the closing round of the professionals’ 72-hole contest, and amateur players final play on Saturday and Sunday respectively.