Georgia Oboh (middle) lending a hand to aspiring golfers at the Nigeria Cup Junior Clinic held at the Ikoyi Club…at the weekend.
• Ready for Nigerian tour
After an excellent run on her tour of Europe and America, which culminated in a second place finish at the 2017 Hurricane54 Hole Junior Golf Challenger held at the at the Shingle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, United States, Nigeria’s golf prodigy, Georgia Oboh is back to show her compatriots some of the tricks she learnt on the tour.
America’s Tiffany Arafi won the Girls’ 14 to 18 category of the Hurricane54 hole championship. Arafi had a 70 on first day, and followed that with a 76 the second day and ended with 71 on final day of the three-day tournament with a total of 217.
Georgia Oboh posted rounds of 77, 73 and 76 to finish in second with a total of 226, while Anika Veintemilla of Samborondon finished in third place with a three-day total of 228 (76-75-77).
The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour (HJGT) was founded in 2007 with the intention of providing junior golfers between the ages of eight to 18 an opportunity to play on exceptional courses in a competitive environment.
Prior to the Hurricane Challenge, the 16-year-old sensation had attended the US junior girls qualifying, the USGA women’s amateur qualifier both in Florida, as well as US Women’s Open’s qualifying competition in Buckingham, United Kingdom (UK).
At the World Junior Golf Championship in Las Vegas, Oboh represented Nigeria amidst an array of stars from across the globe and she finished sixth in the girls’U-18 category. Then she went on to a 10th place finish in the highly competitive field of the US Kids world championships in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
With these performances, Oboh stood out as Nigeria’s best female golf talent U-18 and most probably in all of sub Saharan Africa.
She played in the Florida Women’s Open at Reunion Resort in Orlando and finished with a great score of 79/80 in a field of lady professionals and some top amateur players.
She was also invited to play her second LPGA qualifying competition in Ontario, Canada making her the youngest African to play in this event as an amateur.
Last week Tuesday, Oboh competed at her home club, Ikoyi Golf Club and missing the top place by just one shot to the eventual winner, veteran player, Evelyn Oyome, who was also the defending champion.
She played the course on a very tough day, which was plagued by heavy downpours, yet she claimed second place.
On Wednesday in the 4club challenge, Oboh took her revenge on the course and claimed first place victory with a gross score of 78 and wiping out the entire field.
Oboh will be at Ibadan Golf Club next week to participate in the qualifying series to the Equatorial Guinea Open later in the year.
Fans can also see Georgia in action at the Lakowe Lakes Golf Club in Lakowe on the Lekki Peninsular tomorrow at 9.00 a.m.
Georgia and her team are still hopeful of attracting sponsors for her budding career.
