The Minister of youth and Sports, Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has charged the leadership of the Ghana Golf Association (GGA) to find ways to disabuse the exclusive mindset of Ghanaians about the sport and find ways to attract the youth to engage in the sport.
According to Mr. Ankrah, the future of the sport rests solely on the youth most of whom are turned away as a result of the belief that it is a discipline reserved for the elite and well-to-do in society.
The youth and Sports minister gave the advice on Sunday evening when the GGA hosted its maiden awards night to honour golfers that distinguished themselves.
With top class golfers from all the courses across the country assembled, young Nana Bonsu from the Royal Golf Course in Kumasi was adjudged the Golfer of the Year.
Sir Sam Jonah, a veteran golfer, was declared the Golf Personality of the Year.
According to the minister, the passage of golf as an Olympic sport must provide the motivation for players to up their performance for Ghana to send a formidable team to the next Olympic Games.
But that dream, he said, can only materialized when the clubs make efforts to rope in the youth and assist them to become great golfers to represent the country.
The minister recognized the immense role the GGA is playing in the area of sports development and their self sufficiency, saying, �the ministry is happy with your organizational qualities and finesse in soliciting for sponsorship to keep you going.
�At the appropriate time, the ministry would organized a capacity building workshop to share your experience with the other disciplines for them to find ways of generating revenue to lesson the burden on government.�
The event, supported by Cal Bank, Guinness Ghana Brewery, Doscar Travel and Tours, UT Bank, Vanguard Assurance and Coca Cola saw 12 other individuals and organizations taking home several awards on the night.
Elizabeth Captan from the Tafo Golf Course (TGC) was adjudged the Most Promising Golfer (Female) with the Male version of the same awards going to Emmanuel Quarshie from the Achimota Golf Course (ACG).
ACG�s Herbertina Amzado and Tema Country Golf Club�s (TCGC), Enoch Nyarko won the the Junior Golfer of the Year awards in the male and female categories respectively with Constance Awuni (Royal Golf Course) and Vincent Atila from Tafo club winning the most improved Golfer awards respectively.
Ama Morgan of Achimota club and Seidu Konatey from Obuasi Golf Club (OGC) emerged winners of the Senior Golfer of the Year awards while 15-year-old Daniel List from Achimota was adjudged the International Golfer of the Year winner after winning the European U-15 junior championship.
The female Amateur Golfer of the year award went to Achimota�s Mona Captan Myers-Lamptey with the male version going to Peter Amenyo from TCGC, Victor Brave-Mensah from TCGC won the Professional Golfer of the Year award.
Special awards were also presented to Tullow Ghana Limited and UT Bank for their support for the sport.
<<Print>>