By Kunle SHONUGA
No fewer than 260 golfers from across the country will converge on the Ikoyi Club 1968 for the 57th edition of the prestigious Lagos Amateur Golf Open.
Folake Ani-Mumuney, the Head of Marketing /Corporate Communications, First Bank (FBN) PLC, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
The event is scheduled for Nov. 16 to Nov. 18.
Ani-Mumuney explained that the tournament was not just a competition, but a tradition that FBN was honoured to be part of for 57 years.
“Our identification with the competition is in line with the promotion of talents that fly the green and white colours of Nigeria beyond the shores of the country.
“We recently signed an endorsement deal with a 17-year Georgia Oboh, who has set her sight on playing on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) circuit, who will be participating in this edition.
“With this, she will be the youngest African female golfer to have reached the milestone of playing a minimum of 20 tournaments annually,” said Ani-Mumuney.
She added that the three-day Championship, open to registered members of the Golf club with handicap of 14 or below, would be concluded with a grand finale and award ceremony.
The Championship, which made its debut 57years ago, has also sired professional golfers like Sunday Okpe, Willy Gift, Oche Odoh, the number one golfer in the country, among others.
Samuel Amadi and J. Ajiboye hold the record title of highest winners of the Champion Trophy, with five trophies each. Ajiboye won in 1969, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1979.
Amadi won the trophy in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007 and 2010, while in 2014 and 2015, Monday Eze and Uche Eze won the coveted title respectively.
