Guardian

FROM January 14 to 19, Category One players wishing to relinquish their amateur status and play golf professionally will be battling to earn their tour cards as the 2013 Qualifying School of the Professional Golfers’ Association of Nigeria holds at the Ibom Golf Club, Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, Akwa Ibom State.

The candidates numbering 78, will be subjected to examinations in different aspects of the sport as they bid to launch their career to the next level. Apart from their performances on the course during the qualifying examination, they will also be judged in sessions that will put to test, their knowledge of the rules, presentations and club repairs amongst others.

At the last Q-School, which held at the Ibori Golf and Country Club, Asaba, where 12 persons bagged tour cards, 62 category one players took part.

Commenting on the increase in applicants, which has seen the number shot to 78, PGAN’s Director of Special Duties, Dominic Andrew said “even though the Q-School will be conducted based on the number of candidates that show up at the examination venue and not the number of applicants, the increase was a good development.

“There is a gradual rise of interest in professional golf and a number of young persons are beginning to see prospects in playing the game professionally. This I must say is a good development that we wish should continue even though the interest is not as much as we would wish,” Andrew stated.

At the last Q-School, Nigeria took delivery of 12 new professional golfers at the end of the exercise. But Andrew, who is the immediate past tournament director of the PGAN said the decision regarding the number of persons to be admitted into the ranks of professional players would be jointly arrived at after a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Association and the examiners, which will take place hours before the commencement of the exercise.

The PGAN chief informed that even though they were a bit late in commencing preparations for the exercise, they have succeeded in covering lost grounds, stressing that at the moment, preparations were in top gear for the school.

On the choice of the venue, he said Ibom Golf Club has the best championship course in the country, which is capable of posing enough challenge to any aspiring professional golfer.