Thompson Gives Panacea For Golf Development

Founder and President of Kids Golf International, Prince Kehinde Thompson, has bemoaned the state of amateur golf in Nigeria, while also proffering solution to how the sport can be taken to the next level.

Thompson said it is a source of worry that the amateur golf scene has been experiencing lull, explaining why his organisation decided to stage a kid golf tourney in the country.

According to him: “We are here to make golf grow as football has grown in Nigeria, such that our players will be forces to reckon with in the world stage in a few years to come. We will start this by developing the game from the grassroots not just with more tournaments, but programmes that will aid learning and skill development”.

He said the organisation is not in Nigeria to simply add to the list of tournaments played, but to assist with innovative and developmental ideas that will find the right balance in the development of education and natural talents of young children.

In his words: “Nigerians at the moment hold two things dearly to their hearts; religion and education. We want to add one more to the list, which is ‘Natural Talent Development’ in youths”.

“We need to develop the mentality to quickly identify talent in our youths and help nurture such talent to maturity. One of such innovations is the launch of the Golf Hall of Fame to recognise individuals and organisations to develop golf”.

He concluded by praising the Professional Golfers Association of Nigeria, PGAN providing an enabling environment for the sport to develop, but like Oliver Twist, he is demanding more from them.

—Adebobola Alawode