Bako, Tobias Confident as West African Tour Tees off

Nigerian regular tour professionals, Kamilu Bako and Chidi Tobias are in upbeat mood as the maiden West African Golf Tournament officially tees off today at IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja.

After scheduled practice routines, Bako from Kano Golf Club and Tobias, who is based at Ikeja Golf Club, declared their readiness to get the tournament off the mark.

The West African Golf tournament will parade a cluster of international players from Cameroun, Ghana, the Gambia, Senegal, Gabon and will be joined by players from Nigeria for a 72-hole contest where a total purse of $50,000 is at stake.

After two practice sessions over the par 72 IBB golf layout, Bako said that he would start the event as a contender as he had succeeded in fashioning his game plan.

‘’The practice session has revealed what I need to do. I now realise that I need to place my balls on the fairways, find the greens with my second shot and check my putts. I need to perfect my shot-game, the chip and bunker shots and generally all the shots, I am ready to go,’’Bako declared with a wink.

He said his winning chances are very bright despite the strong field in addition to the fact that the cut will only be for 50 players and ties out of the 120 players that will tee off today.

‘’Why not? On a good day, I can win this tournament,’’ he boasted. ‘’In fact, I am here to win as I believe I have the game to triumph in Abuja. The course is okay. This is a very good opportunity for us Nigerians to impress as the first two legs will be held on home courses’’.

But Tobias was absolutely enchanted that he has a platform to exhibit his ability to the world given that the West African Golf Tour will be beamed on cable television.

‘’It is a fulfillment of lifelong dream as people can now watch us on television and see how talented some of us are. My winning odds are high when I swing well, but I don’t want to be boastful because all this while, I have been playing with only few people noticing. It will be a different ball game now that the cameras will on the course,’’ Tobias, who plays golf with a crocked left hand declared.

The player ranked in the top 10 of Nigerian Order of Merit said he was quite familiar with Abuja where he won as an amateur but never as a professional because of limited tournaments.