An estimated 200 players from 16 African countries have registered to participate in the 2018 Coca-Cola Open African Minigolf Championships, which comes off at the Sports City Arena in Accra from July 25 to 29.
Players from Ghana and countries such as Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan and Togo will compete for prizes and the enviable title of Africa’s best individual and mixed pair minigolfers.
The five-day competition takes place at Sports City Arena (formerly MTN Soccer Academy House) at Ridge and is being organised by the Ghana Minigolf Federation and with endorsement by the World Minigolf Federation.
At the launch of the competition at the weekend, the Minister for Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, said he was hopeful that the maiden Coca-Cola Open African Minigolf Championships would provide a springboard for the rapid growth of the sport in the country.
He said the ministry was ready to partner the Ghana Minigolf Federation and its president, Talal Fattal, to construct minigolf courses across the country in line with the government’s policy to develop sporting infrastructure to boost the growth and promotion of sports in Ghana.
For the minister, minigolf was not only a welcome addition to the nation’s sporting calendar but also provided many economic and social benefits, including its ability to help active players such as schoolchildren to improve their concentration, geometry and problem-solving skills.
“My ministry is ready to partner the Ghana Minigolf Federation to ensure greater penetration of the sport in the country, to ensure that each region gets such a facility to promote sports,†Asiamah said at the programme attended by dignitaries including Dr Emmanuel Owusu-Ansah (technical adviser to the minister), Mike Aggrey, president of Ghana Golf Association; Yaw Konadu of the Ghana Deaf Minigolf Association and Ibrahima Kaba of the Francophone association in Ghana.
GMF president, Talal Fattal, revealed that four automatic slots would be at stake at the Ghana competition for winners to compete for the $50,000 winning purse at the MSOP World Team Minigolf Finals on October 27 in Las Vagas, USA.
The Championship will be played in two strokes (individual stroke and mixed pairs stroke) for both males and females segments in the Youth (nine to 16 years) and General Class (17 – 65 years).
Both male and female players will compete over two days in five rounds of 18-hole Minigolf with the final 16 best score players competing again on Saturday, July 28 to decide the ultimate winners.
The Knockout Cup comes off on Sunday, July 29th and will feature the best 32 players from the championships who will compete for the trophy at stake.
Source: myjoyonline.com
