‘Mesiogo Golf Open will make Ibadan great’

From right, Ghanian number one golfer, Vincent Torgah; Kabir Mohammed Aruna; the Commissioner for Information, Tourism and Culture, Mr Toye Arulogun; CEO Local Organising Committee (LOC), Mr Olawale Opayinka; Gift Willy and Secretary, Professioanal Golfers Association (PGA) of Nigeria, Mr Jide Bolaji during the ceremonial tee off of Ibadan Mesiogo Golf Open at Ibadan Golf Club (IGC) Onireke, Ibadan. PHOTO: OLAWALE OLANIYAN.

As the golfers converged on the ancient city of Ibadan for the maiden Ibadan Mesiogo Golf Open at Ibadan Golf Club (IGC), the Chief Executive Officer of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the tournament, Mr Olawale Opayinka has said the competition would help shoot the profile of the city.

Speaking at the ceremonial tee off on Thursday, Opayinka said Ibadan Mesiogo Open is part of the road to Mongomo series which culminates in the 3E Actuaries Open scheduled for Mongomo in Equatorial Guinea from December 13 to 16, 2017.

“The goal of this championship is to make Ibadan great again, to put Ibadan on the world golf map, to push up Oyo state, to build on the incredible effort of the transformation of the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. So it is really about celebrating people and bringing them from all around the world to Oyo state.

“We have never had anything like this in more than 30 years, it is the first time we have professionals play professional golf as a proper championship over three days, playing for N10 million as for the bigest tournament in Africa which is in Mongomo in Equatorial Guinea.

“We are keeping with the theme of the IMEGA week Beyond golf, we have empowered over 100 women with a non-refundable soft loan of N10,000 each to start a trade of choice. This will be monitored closely by the Local Organising Committee,” Opayinka said.

Also, the Commissioner for Information, Tourism and Culture, in the state, Mr Toye Arulogun who represented Governor Ajimobi expressed joy at staging the tournament:

“It is a great idea having professional golfers here in Ibadan, it’s a welcome development. In fact, I have always emphasised that tourism is not just visiting monuments and sites as we also have medical tourism, educational tourism, sports tourism and this is one of such where people come, stay in our hotels, eat our foods, the attention of the world is also going to be on Oyo state,” he said.

Meanwhile, number one Ghanaian golfer, Vincent Torgah said he’s here to qualify for Mongomo Golf Open in Equatorial Guinea and also claim the top prize in the qualifying series.

“I’m here to win that is why I’m representing Ghana because I have long for this success,” he said.

Also, the organisers have also scheduled an award night tomorrow to celebrate outstanding sport personalities.