Pros Face Lean Winnings, Crammed Calendar

The professional golfers have longed for patronage but not the type that they are getting now.

If things don’t get right back in order the Professional Golfers Association of Nigeria, PGAN, would be loosing more than money intended for wins for its over 100 players who had hope to secure their livelihood from professional golfing.

Form all indications, more events in the near future on the local golfing calendar would still cross path. And to the horror of the professional players who had in the recent years been recovering from the slum that both economic freefall and poor image handling has earned them, some winnings would elude them.

Two weekends ago it took the shift in the Chief of Naval Staff organized Pro-Am Golf tournament in Abeokuta for the players to fully maximize the 36-hole two million prize purse that the state government in Cross Rivers State had staked for them. For the organizers of the CNS event in Ogun state, backing down was just in understanding that they would want to carry the professionals along in their event which offers the same N2million naira (about $8,000) for the players.

“We would have pulled on with the amateurs but that would in some sort kill the fun, colour and the development that the pro category has always added to ever event”

That apart, anyway, the scenario is repeating itself and now its getting clumsier because most of the organizers claimed that they are looking forward to parading the professionals in their event and in some cases other have gone ahead to brand promotional materials for the chosen date in the hope that the day is only open to them.

For now, Seedvest sponsored golf tournament has been scheduled for Mach 27-31 at the Ibadan Golf Course, and by the four day schedule it is taken for granted that professional players have been factored in the event. And again for the simple fact that sponsor of the event: Otunba Olushola Adekanola, is one of the strongest supporters of professional golf in the country.

The date chosen for the Ibadan duel has also been fixed for the official commissioning of the Akwa Ibom Golf course in uUyo where it has been touted that some of the local pros have been billed to do a ding with Europe’s “Lion”, Colin Montgomerie. The date is March 29-31 and arrangement by different organizers has been seen to be going on unfettered.

The orphan of the whole arrangement is the professional who according to an in-house source has confirmed that none of the organizers (at least as at press time) gotten in touch with the PGA.

“to us all these are rumors and we hear all these a lot, but as a body we only reckon with anyone that has formally get in touch with us a body”

The PGA authority frown at the way the pros invitation in recent time and plans seeking ways to get sponsors to give it a more respectable treat. “it is not only show lack of order on the part of golf administrators in the country, it in a whole lot reflect how far we have evolved. And by now tieing up our schedules should what we would be working at achieving at this stage of the games development.” Another PGA executive added pleading that he would not want to be credited with the statement.

On the final note, Kola Jacobson one of resident professional at the Abeokuta Golf Club

spoke with Businessday and said that the earlier postponed CNS golf event has found a new date: “Its going to be the last weekend of the month of March or the one before it”

It has been confirmed that the PGA doesn’t yet know of it officially, but by the time it gets to know of it. It would have had too many offers to just one weekend, an option of one crammed weekend and the fear of negotiating a lean purse for its members. The PGA executive meets on March 13 at the association’s secretariat next week. It is an helluvia task waiting to be resolved.