The 63rd edition of the annual FirstBank Lagos Amateur Open Golf Championship which teed off on Monday is yielding results with the discovery of a new golf talent in Olamide Afolabi, the winner of the ‘Search for Stars’ category of the tournament.
Afolabi grossed a score of 73, two over the course par, to emerge winner in the ‘Search for Stars’ category, an integral part of the Lagos Open aimed at discovering new golf talents.
While Afolabi sits atop the Search for Stars category, Ifeanyi Sylvester grossed 76 to come second, leaving Segun Olasinde with a 78-gross score in the third position.
About 200 amateur golfers competed in the tournament, which was held at the golf section of the Ikoyi Club 1938.
The FirstBank Lagos Amateur Open Golf Championship is a World Amateur Golf Ranking event, administered by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and United States Golf Association, making the championship one of the international golf events where all amateur golfers worldwide can participate and amass points to aid their WAGR rankings.
Afolabi now joins a long list of would-be golf professionals who have passed through the FirstBank Lagos Amateur Open Golf Championship.
In 2002, Port Harcourt-based Willy Gift stunned bookmakers when he tore through the tight fairways of Ikoyi Course, emerging victorious in a field of over two hundred players. That victory earned Gift sponsorship, and turned professional the following year.
Andrew Oche Odoh, one of Nigeria’s best golfers was another amateur sensation who stole the show in Ikoyi, winning the 2003 edition.
Others include Danjuma Farouk, Ajayi Tajudeen, Bello Moruf, Austin Akpodiete and many more.