Nigeria Places 8th at MTN World Golfers Championship

MTN World Golfers Championship

By Olawale Ajimotokan 

Nigeria achieved its best outing ever at the MTN World Golfers Championship (WGC) after it finished eight at the 19th edition of the annual amateur competition held in Durban, South Africa.

But the result was received with mixed feelings by the Nigerian delegation at the weekend, following the failure of the team to win individual prizes in the championship and invitational categories.

The WGC which is the largest amateur golf tournament in the world, attracted more than 300 golfers from 26 countries, including Nigeria to Durban, the capital of KwaZulu- Natal Province from October 26- November 2.

After an intense competition, South Africa's reliance on local knowlegde paid off as its team 1 and 2 finished first and third respectively.

Indonesia closed the gap by finishing in second position while Vietman placed fourth.
Slovenia amassed 1204 net to finish in fifth place in addition to being the highest ranked European team at the championship.

Indian is sixth with 1212 net while Malaysia, last year's winner of the tournament, occupies the seventh position.

After easing into the 10th position on Thursday, Nigeria was favoured to consolidate and climb the leaderboard mainly through its joker, Diana Osmond, who played in the handicap flight 21-25 category.

But the 16-year-old student, after five days of intensive golf, felt the final day pressure, when her game collapsed on the back-nine at Umhlali Country Club in Balito.

Osmond was commanding on the front nine where she took 40 strokes, but after the turn, she lost momentum and took 54 strokes to close with 74 net.

She finished in her flight category in a tied for 6th position with Indian Rajiv Sethi, as Slovenia's Mitja Reinhadt emerged as the winner.

In fairness, Nigeria's final flourish was in part due to Osmond's brilliance in addition to the doggedness of Susan Cole- Kotas, in the 11-16 handicap flight category.
Cole- Kotas ended in 8th position in her category, while Udeme Esset tied for 11th the 16-20 category.

Okechukwu Ananaba also tied for 17th in 6-10 flight while Samuel Amadi tied for 8th in the handicap flight 0-5 category won by German Valentin Salvesberg.
The Nigerian hope for a podium recognition was, however, deflated when Spain was named the winner of the Sven Tumba Award as the best nation that promoted the spirit of the game of golf. MTN everywhere you go......................