Nigeria Content Online

The
10th edition of the All Africa Challenge Trophy (AACT) will officially
tee off today at the IBB Golf and Country Club, Abuja with Nigeria
aiming to end South Africa’s long reign as the continent’s top women’s
golfing nation.

South Africa have
won all previous nine editions of the biennial tournament and are
favourites yet again to triumph at the end of the championship, which
was first held in Harare, Zimbabwe back in 1992.

“We are optimistic
that we can dethrone South Africa,” Ngozi Osuhor, president of the
Ladies Golf Association of Nigeria said. “The South Africans are very
good but we believe playing in Abuja will give us an advantage that
might work in our favour.”

Flying Nigeria’s
flag at this year’s AACT are the quartet of Faith Okoh-Baya, Rachael
Danjuma, Amina Wilfred and Diana Okah, and they have been practising at
the tournament’s venue for over a month.

“We have done all
that we can to ensure that they prepare well and knowing the course
well might just be an advantage for us,” Osuhor said.

Seventeen expected

As many as 17
countries are expected at the AACT with a couple of them already in
Abuja for what is the most prestigious event for amateur women golfers
in the continent.

Besides the hosts
Nigeria, other countries expected to vie for top honours in Abuja
include Angola, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana and Malawi.

Also on the list are Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Senegal, Swaziland, Sierra Leone and defending champions South Africa.

The Kenyan team,
which has been in training for several weeks in Nairobi under the
tutelage of top Kenyan professional Rose Naliaka, arrived on Saturday
but without 12-year-old golf prodigy Naomi Walufa who picked up an
injury.

Tanzania, another
team expected for the AACT, left Dar es Salaam for Abuja yesterday.
Their counterparts from Botswana also departed for Nigeria yesterday
for the championship.

Botswana, will be
at the AACT with 15-year-old Ouname Mhotsha who has been playing golf
for seven years; the country is bidding to host the 2012 AACT
competition and will be using the opportunity of being in Abuja to make
their case.

“We have the
experience and necessary infrastructure to host a tournament of this
magnitude as we proved when we hosted a successful Zone VI tournament
recently,” said Tiny Kgatlwane, president of the Botswana Ladies Golf
Union.

The wife of the Nigerian president Patience Jonathan, and Dora
Akunyili, the Minister of Information, are expected to attend the
opening and closing ceremonies of the tournament. The All Africa
Challenge Trophy is sponsored by the Nigerian Breweries Plc, Coca-Cola
Nigeria, Sterling Bank, Eko Hotel among others.