Teenage Golf Prodigy Oboh to Inspire Greensprings Students

Teenage golf sensation, Georgia Oboh will on Thursday, March 9 visit Greensprings School, Lagos as part of her effort to promote the sport in schools.

Oboh, who is the 2015 U.S. Kids Golf Teen World Champion, will be joined by her parents during the one-day interaction with the students and management of the school.

The 16-year-old made history recently as the youngest, first black girl or woman of African origin to compete as an amateur and professional in the Ladies Professional Golfers Association of America (LPGA) tournament, after competing at the qualifiers for the 2017 LPGA first tournament of the Year (the Pure Silk Bahamas) earlier this year.

Oboh is currently one of the most highly rated female golfers out of Africa and she was the continent’s best player at the Junior Orange Bowl International Invitational in the US; she also took part in the 2016 US Women’s Open qualifier in Florida, a professional tournament with 20 professional golfers in the field.

Also, the teenager has been given a wildcard to the 2017 VP Bank Ladies Open in Switzerland.

Georgia Oboh started golf at six with encouragement from her parents. “My parents began playing golf when I was only four; I started taking lessons when I was six. A few months later, I began competing at a local and regional level (in rain, wind or cold almost every weekend in the UK).

“Starting with the British Junior Golf Tour at seven, I was given the handicap of 36. But it all really took off when I was named Junior Golfer of the Year in 2008 by the BJGT and also that year I watched the British Ladies Open with my parents and got a ball from the then ladies number-one player Lorena Ochoa.

“I really got motivated that day to be the best player that I can be in the sport,” she said recently about her foray into golf.

On her dream, she said: “I would like to see myself on the LPGA Tour as an active member and to make history as the first African woman on tour and also the first Nigerian woman. Rising through the ranks, on my way to win majors and eventually hold the rank as the best female pro golfer. I pray that God will help me in this goal and also I hope to have great sponsors who can help. The travel and training expenses can be quite high so we are praying to get a great group of sponsors come to our aid.”