Isaiah Okonofua and Faeren Kuma have emerged as winners of the Tukur Yusuf Buratai (TYB) International Golf Resort and Country Club, Abuja single match play finals in the men’s and ladies’ category respectively.
The match play trials saw the four finalists pass through seven rigorous stages to reach the grand finale on Saturday. The match play event was played alongside the TYB New Year kitty.
The men’s singles match play was keenly contested between Okonofua, playing off handicap 10, and AVM Ladan, who played off handicap 18. The match, however, went all the way to the final hole with Okonofua one up to emerge the winner of the category.
Okonofua, in an interview with journalists after his hard-flight victory, said he put in his best by staging an unbelievable comeback in the course of the match.
“I started poorly and was already four down at hole 7, but I told myself that I was going to fight back doggedly. Indeed, the beast in me came out and I began to play better on the back nine and ended up with the victory at hole 18.
“It was a very tough match play as the opponent I played with is a very fantastic golfer, but I gave him a game and put up a good showing to emerge victorious,” he said.
In the ladies’ single match play category, Kuma, playing off handicap 35 won Sarah Kudi, who played off handicap 25 by two holes up with one to go.
Kuma, who started on a strong footing from the front nine, allowed Kudi back in the game, following some nervous moments at the back nine but luckily recovered at the right moment to win comfortably with two holes left.
“I started very well and was leading five up before my nerves got the better part of me and my opponent squared. Luckily for me, I was able to regain my confidence at the right time and bounced back two up with one hole to spare. It wasn’t an easy feat, but I thank God for giving me the victory,” she said.
The pair of Philip Kum and Sam Anyande emerged winners of the TYB men’s double match play category after they defeated the duo of Chile Ushahonba and Stephen Godwin.
The vice-captain of the CLUB, Ali Peters, described the event as exciting for the beginning of a new golfing year.
“It is so good to be back as we’ve missed the Course, its challenges, the camaraderie and all the golfing banter, as well as networking with friends.
“We have so many tournaments lined up for the year, and this is just the beginning, we have a lot of work to do in terms of upgrading and maintaining our lush green course. We are doing reticulation on our front and back nine and built a 10,000-litre tank with a network of pipes so as to ensure that both our greens and fairways are in good condition all year round.
“Also, since the inception of this club, we haven’t had a standard range. We have been making use of a make-shift range. So, we’ve built a range here and just putting some finishing touches to it. We will be commissioning it soon,” he said.
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