Dr Rowland Adewumi, a golf enthusiast and promoter has pledged to invest more in the development of golf in Nigeria through his Rowland Adewumi golf classic tournament.
Adewumi stated this on Saturday at the tee-off of the tournament at the prestigious IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja, where both professional and amateur golfers are slugging it out for honours.
He told newsmen that the inaugural tournament is meant to serve as a veritable platform for the development of amateur and professional Nigerian golfers to international standards.
The philanthropist stressed the need to have sustainable tournaments for golf development across the country, in line with international best practices.
“I think the game of golf has been lagging behind, so I just decided to make my own contribution to the develop the game better in Nigeria.
“This is the inaugural tournament and I intend to make it a yearly affair in the spirit of developing the sport further.
“So apart from the game, we intend doing charity today, so we are supporting about four charity homes/orphanages and widows, so it’s not all about the game but at the same time supporting charity,” he said.
Adewumi, who is a professional golfer Handicap 7 with the IBB Int golf and country club called on government and the private sector to show more commitment to the development of the sport in the country.
“We need to support the pros in the country,, because if you look at the ranking in the world, Nigerian pros are not performing better.
“So I think the private sector, the government and other stakeholders need to support the pros as well to lift up the game to a higher height,” he added.
He said the tournament was put together to celebrate his 50th birthday, but promised to make it an annual event that will serve as platform for grooming professional and amateur golfers.
Earlier, Captain of the IBB International Golf and Country Club, Ibrahim Babayo extolled the support of Adewumi to the growth of the sport in the country, while calling on others to emulator him.
“We have got talents that are not opportuned to be exposed to this game and this philanthropist, Dr Adewumi has created a platform for these talents.
“I can tell you what he has done for us in this club is unprecedented, so we wish him happy birthday.
“We thank him for deepening the game of golf in Nigeria, we thank him for the sponsorship he’s been doing in IBB golf club, he’s one of our biggest donors and he’s been supportive of all our programmes,” he said.
The three-day tournament featured more than 100 golfers competing in a stroke play format over the renowned 18-hole, lush green IBB golf course.
A total of N20 million prize money and other consolation prizes are up for grabs at the end of the classic.
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