There are Scores to Settle in Otukpo
Between Edet Umoh, Oche Odoh, and Emos Korblah there is a very faint line that bonds them all as friends. And that line could be broken this weekend when the third Otukpo Golf Championship (that teed off yesterday) draws to a close.
Korblah for sometime has been resident in Otuko and Umoh is based in Abuja but when the two players are on the Tour, more likely than not; they share hotel room. This has not stopped Korblah from piping Umoh the two times he had the chance. First in Benin at the Igbinedion sponsored tournament and again at the semi-finals of the Pinnacle Matchplay Championship, what a friend!
Umoh is barely 25 and he believes “daddy” (the name he coined for the witty 40 plus Korblah) is the reason he has not been ranked number one player in the on going 2007 Nigerian Tour season. In fact hearing once from his roommate boasting that he is not a threat still angers him, and Otukpo could make all the difference.
Korblah is ranked number one in Nigeria (enough to court jealousy- he is a Ghanaian) and Umoh is not taking that lightly, he thinks he is the best.
The par 72 golf course was commissioned in less than four years ago, tucked between large commercial farms in Akpegede (some two kilometers away from the Otukpo town). It a brown course (the putting surface is oily-sand). And those compositions may the ones that would make all the difference when the final rounds begin on Saturday through Sunday.
The two times Korbla had had an upper hand, it was on a different terrain.
“Since the last two tournaments in Abuja, I am beginning to feel a lot more pressure”. The pressure is supported by the fight players like Umoh Edet are willing to give, just to get their pound of flesh.
Perhaps there is no other player that has more things to prove than South African based Oche Odoh whom since returning home has been finding it hard to cope with the challenge Emoh Korbalah has injected into the local golf scene. He too like Umoh is on friendly tie with the current number one player, but things may just be different here (in Otukpo), Afterall it was Korblah and Christian Godfrey that robbed him of his much needed win last week at the finals of the ULO Championship in Abuja.
But for golf enthusiasts the run of events in recent events has given room to not leave out some players who could pull surprise form the lot. Christian Godfrey is the one of such break away players. The former number one player is still fresh from his ULO victory which he secured battling both malaria and fellow pros should not be shoved aside.
Morgan Atako, arguably the best looser at the Pinnacle Matchplay Championship in Abuja two weeks back is also on the prowl. The rest are Lateef Lasisi of Abeokuta Golf Club and Ali Abdullahi the Holland based EPD Tour player who recently told golfx.blogspot.com that the wrist injury that has kept him back in the last two events is healing fast.
Between Edet Umoh, Oche Odoh, and Emos Korblah there is a very faint line that bonds them all as friends. And that line could be broken this weekend when the third Otukpo Golf Championship (that teed off yesterday) draws to a close.
Korblah for sometime has been resident in Otuko and Umoh is based in Abuja but when the two players are on the Tour, more likely than not; they share hotel room. This has not stopped Korblah from piping Umoh the two times he had the chance. First in Benin at the Igbinedion sponsored tournament and again at the semi-finals of the Pinnacle Matchplay Championship, what a friend!
Umoh is barely 25 and he believes “daddy” (the name he coined for the witty 40 plus Korblah) is the reason he has not been ranked number one player in the on going 2007 Nigerian Tour season. In fact hearing once from his roommate boasting that he is not a threat still angers him, and Otukpo could make all the difference.
Korblah is ranked number one in Nigeria (enough to court jealousy- he is a Ghanaian) and Umoh is not taking that lightly, he thinks he is the best.
The par 72 golf course was commissioned in less than four years ago, tucked between large commercial farms in Akpegede (some two kilometers away from the Otukpo town). It a brown course (the putting surface is oily-sand). And those compositions may the ones that would make all the difference when the final rounds begin on Saturday through Sunday.
The two times Korbla had had an upper hand, it was on a different terrain.
“Since the last two tournaments in Abuja, I am beginning to feel a lot more pressure”. The pressure is supported by the fight players like Umoh Edet are willing to give, just to get their pound of flesh.
Perhaps there is no other player that has more things to prove than South African based Oche Odoh whom since returning home has been finding it hard to cope with the challenge Emoh Korbalah has injected into the local golf scene. He too like Umoh is on friendly tie with the current number one player, but things may just be different here (in Otukpo), Afterall it was Korblah and Christian Godfrey that robbed him of his much needed win last week at the finals of the ULO Championship in Abuja.
But for golf enthusiasts the run of events in recent events has given room to not leave out some players who could pull surprise form the lot. Christian Godfrey is the one of such break away players. The former number one player is still fresh from his ULO victory which he secured battling both malaria and fellow pros should not be shoved aside.
Morgan Atako, arguably the best looser at the Pinnacle Matchplay Championship in Abuja two weeks back is also on the prowl. The rest are Lateef Lasisi of Abeokuta Golf Club and Ali Abdullahi the Holland based EPD Tour player who recently told golfx.blogspot.com that the wrist injury that has kept him back in the last two events is healing fast.
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