The IBB International Golf and Country Club in Abuja will play host in December to the inaugural tournament of the West Africa Golf Tour, a new invitational event created to promote and develop the game in the region, ThisDayLive reports.
The goal of the West Africa Golf Tour is to be a world-class golf event that allows West African golfing talent to compete and puts them on the world stage at international tournaments.
Focusing attention on regional talent is expected to reach a wide audience and stimulate development of new golf courses and sports facilities, providing better playing, business and career opportunities in West Africa, ThisDayLive reports.
Just one West African is among the 108 African golfers who have been inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
James Lebbie is a professional golfer born in Sierra Leone who played in many tournaments on Europe‘s second tier Challenge Tour, mainly in Africa. He recorded a solitary victory in the 1992 Nigerian Open and won the Sierra Leone Open many times.
Lebbie was head professional at the Freetown Golf Club in Sierra Leone before moving to the U.S. to teach at The Capital City Golf School in Washington, D.C.
The majority of Hall of Famers — 92 — are South African. The list includes 10 Zimbabweans, two Namibians, one Kenyan, one Zambian and one Egyptian.
After the inaugural West Africa Golf Tour Abuja invitational tournament in December, events will be staged monthly in different tour destinations in Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
All tournaments will have a minimum prize purse of $50,000. To be eligible, players must be registered members of the tour, ThisDayLive reports. The format is stroke play with 120 players. The top 50 players and ties will make the cut after 36 holes.
The tour will end with a $100,000 championship featuring the top 50 players with the most points playing in at least half the official tournaments.
The idea for the tournament was hatched two years ago when Emeka Okatta, West Africa Tour President, sponsored training of Nigerian players in South Africa.
