A Former Managing Director of the Cal Bank Limited, Frank Adu Jr, has won the Okyenhene Invitational Golf tournament, this year.
He scored 36 stableford points with 11 handicap to emerge ahead of four other golfers in the Group A category.
For the Group B category, the Chief Executive Officer of the E. Bonah Limited, E. K. Bonah, scored 36 points with 16 handicap to beat three other contenders.
The Chief Executive Officer of the erstwhile UT Bank, Kofi Amoabeng, won the overall best for the senior competition, with Kwabena Yeboah winning the longest drive with 105 metres to green.
Alila Ewoena emerged the overall best for the women’s longest drive with 130 metres to green.
The 18-hole tournament, which started with a ceremonial tee-off by the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, who also competed in the game, took place at the Tafo
Golf Course at Akyem Tafo in the Eastern Region.
The event was sponsored by Ghana Gas, Agric Development Bank (ADB), Consolidation Bank Ghana, BOST, World Health Organisation and Ghana Cocoa Board, among others.
Held to mark the 72nd birthday of the Okyenhene, who was the special guest, the event attracted
other top golfers including the Kwahuhene, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong II, and the National President of the Ghana Golf Association, Leonard Kwaku Okyere.
Others were top players from various corporate bodies and other institutions across the country. To climax the event, the Okyenhene held a special birthday dinner at the Ofori Panin Fie in Kyebi, where various awards were given out to golfers who excelled at the tournament. The players received various trophies as well as packs of hampers.
Addressing the press ahead of the start of the tournament, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori expressed profound appreciation to God for blessing him to live up to 72 years.
“I am in good health and shape and I am ready to play golf. Seventy-two years is landmark to play golf,” he said.
He expressed the hope that with the support of his chiefs and others, he had been able to contribute to helping restore confidence to his people and Ghana in general.
The Okyenhene, however, appealed to all Ghanaians to join hands with the government to push through the transformation agenda so that “we can leave this country in better hands for our future generations.”
He urged every Ghanaian to take keen interest in playing golf, insisting that the sport provides players with some integrity and discipline.
“Golf game does not belong to the elite or the rich but it is a game that anybody can pick up and so I urge young boys and girls to begin to play the game.
“Parents should try and bring their children to golf courses to learn how to play the game,” he admonished.
President of the Ghana Golf Association (GGA), Leonard Kwaku Okyere, said the whole idea behind the Okyenhene’s Invitational Golf Tournament was to get people fit and healthy as they took part in the tournament.
He said as an association, the GCA was pleased and encouraged that prominent kings such as the Okyenhene and members of the public were getting involved in sports.
“Basically, sports move and get us to get to where we want to go to,” he said, debunking the perception among Ghanaians that golf expensive game and thus the preserve of the rich.
FROM AMA TEKYIWAA AMOADU AGYEMAN, AKYEM TAFO
