Golf: Gold Fields PGA tourney tees off today

A total of 44 professional and senior golfers are expected to take to the lush green course of the Darmang Golf Club at Tarkwa today when the eighth edition of the Gold Fields Professional Golfers Association (PGA) tournament gets underway.

For the second year running, the annual four-day championship will feature only Ghanaians golfers as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Twenty-five professional golfers who qualified for the tournament will compete for the ultimate GHS40,000 cash prize and a trophy while the 19 seniors will play for a GHS10,000 prize and a trophy.

Pro's contest

The defending champion, Lucky Ayisah from the Achimota Golf Club will be out to defend his title but will face a stern challenge for the Blue Jacket from usual suspects such as Francis Torgah of the Centre of the World Golf Club, Kojo Barnni who plays for the Tarkwa Golf Club and veteran campaigner Emos Korblah.

Young golfers such as Maxwell Owusu Bonsu, Kwabena Poku a.k.a Andy Cole, Yaw Barry Djadey and Kwame Ligbidi will also be looking to take inspiration from Ayisah's win last year to pull off a shock.

In an interview, the General Manager for Damang Gold Fields, Mr. Michiel Van Der Merwe, reminded all stakeholders travelling to Darmang for the tournament to observe all COVID-19 protocols for their own safety.

Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tournament Director, Mr. Akwesi Prempeh, assured that the course was in pristine condition to host the tournament.

He also assured that the tournament would not face any challenges from COVID-19 because all the participating golfers had already been vaccinated and the preventive protocols would be adhered to.

"We have prepared very well and the golf course is also in the right shape so we waiting for the golfers from other parts of Ghana to come for the event to start," Mr Prempeh said.

"Because of COVID-19 foreign players were not allowed even in Ghana we played qualifiers to get the regulars and senior players, in total 44 golfers are coming to compete with 25 regular golfers and 19 seniors respectively".