After
two days of intense competition at the 5th Heineken sponsored LM
open which took place at the prestigious Le Meridien Ibom Hotel & Golf
Resort, Uyo, Hassan Adeyemo, a soldier with the Nigerian Army, has emerged the tournament
champion. The tournament saw 122 golfers from across 8 nations slug it out on
the very physically and mentally challenging 18 holes Le Meridien Ibom Golf
Course.
Hassan
Adeyemo, an amateur golfer, who has been playing golf for over 13 years since
joining the Nigerian Army, is based in Port-Harcourt and hails from Oyo-state. Adeyemo
also emerged winner in Category A where he had the best overall Gross score.
Speaking at the award presentation, Adeyemo said, “I feel very great. I didn’t
perform well at the first event in my home club and I felt bad because my
brigade commander was there. But I had to come down to Uyo. I’m very excited.
This is my biggest win of 2012”.
Adeyemo,
who has taken part in all the LM Opens, stated that this competition was the toughest
for him so far. “I’m just happy. I didn’t have the slightest idea that I was
going to win. But on the last hole when I had a good pot, I started having the
feeling that I might be among the winners”. On whether he would be able to
defend his title, Adeyemo was quick to point out that he would be looking to do
just that when the time comes.
He
stressed that the game of golf is getting popular in Nigeria although most
people hold the false belief that the game is very expensive. “Golf is a very
good form of exercise. We have a number of good golf courses in Nigeria as well
as very good players. I’m glad that Heineken has been showing support to the
development of the sport in Nigeria and this is quite commendable. Heineken has
really helped to raise the standard of the game in Nigeria. We would keep
encouraging Heineken to keep pursuing this course and help develop the game of
golf in Nigeria.
Speaking
at the gala night to mark the end of the two-day tournament, General Manager
Consultant IMG, Ibom Golf Club, Sam Logan, stated that the LM Open has
witnessed tremendous growth since its inception 2 years ago. “The first
tournament had 64 players but for this one, we have 122. It keeps getting
bigger. I really feel this is the best tournament in Nigeria. I see golf in
Nigeria changing dramatically in the next five years”.
Commenting
on Heineken’s sponsorship of the tournament, Logan said “I’m very pleased to
have Heineken as part of this tournament. Heineken is a brand we are happy and
excited to be associated with. It is the number one beer in the world. It is a
large sponsor of golf events across the world. This is the fifth edition of the
tournament, and Heineken has been part of all of them. Heineken is also the
very first sponsor that signed up for us. The brand has been a great supporter
of our tournament. We have a fantastic relationship with Heineken”.
Logan
added that better players are coming to take part in the tournament. “The
quality of players taking part in this tournament is improving tremendously. We
have players from Ghana, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Morocco, UK and the USA. We
have over 8 countries represented in this tournament and the number keeps
growing”.
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