The duo of Oche Odoh and Willy Gift will head for Zimbabwe and Zambia from April 19 to 26 to represent Nigeria at the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open and Mopani Cupper Mines Zambia Open.
According to our source at the Professional Golfers’ Association of Nigeria (PGAN), the two top players in the country would fly the country’s flag at the two major international championships.
Gift and five other Nigerian golfers headlined the Moanda Open in Gabon.
Meanwhile, Director of PGAN, Festus Makelemi, has commended the effort of Odoh at the recent Sunshine Tour. He said the golfer was courageous as a lone competitor from Nigeria.
Odoh, at the Sunshine Tour, shot 73 – one over at the Irene Golf Club to miss a third successive chance to tee off on the Sunshine Tour big ticket events (Jo’burg Open, Africa Open and Tshwane Open).
Makelemi, however, said the Nigerian player has been successful going by the conditions that surrounds his appearance.
He said: “Odoh may not have made the cut into the finals, which on its own was very ambitious, given that he was the only Nigeria there.
“I think his chance would have increased if there were more players there with him. That was why we must salute his courage.”
Makelemi insisted that Odoh, knowing the qualifying round was a tedious one, choose to hinge his chances on it.
“For instance, at the Tswane Open, he needed to finish in the top 10 of the 122 players that he competed against, to move to the next round. The odds were against him; he has to compete in a different weather, different golf course and alone. That is a lot of courage,” he added.
According to him, the PGA of Nigeria has had a cordial relationship with her South African counterpart and only hopes to get her players to benefit better offering from the Sunshine Tour in the nearest future.
“For now, despite the high ratings of the Sunshine Tour, the best we can get our players to is through the pre-qualifiers, but we are hopeful to take that deeper soonest,” he said.
PGA of Nigeria currently enjoys a five-man associate membership slot that has been on Sunshine Tour since 2001, which she encourages her top five players to take advantage of.
