Nigerian golfers flop on MENA Golf Tour in Dubai

Zane Scotland of England receives the Dubai Creek and Yacht Club Open trophy after winning it on Wednesday

Nigerian golfers taking part in the ongoing MENA Golf Tour in Dubai, the commercial city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are not having the best of times.

The quartet of Samuel Agbeyegbe, Obi Emeka, Oparaku Madufor and Francis Isuku played poorly in the four rounds of the $50,000 prize money Dubai Creek and Yacht Club Open, the first tourney in a series of six tourneys that make up the Tour.

Oparaku scored a poor 13 over par 155 after the first two rounds. He scored a 40 on the front nine and 39 on the back nine in the first round to finish with 8 over par 79 but got better on Day 2 with a 3 over par 38 on the front and back nines respectively.

But his performance was better than that of Agbeyegbe that scored a 16 over par 158 after the first two rounds. Agbeyegbe began stoutly on Day 1 with a 1 over par 36 on the first nine but slumped on the back nine, finishing with a poor 5 over par 40. The second day was not any better for him as he finished with a 39 on the front nine and an even more worrisome 43 on the back nine.

Francis Isuku had a 17 over par 159 after the first two rounds. He started with a poor 5 over par 40 on the first nine but ended the first day with a much improved 1 over par 37 on the back nine. Round two was also poor for him as he carded a 7 over par 42 on the front nine and 4 over par 40 on the back nine to end the day with a total of 11 over par 82.

Obi Emeka amassed a total of 21 over par 163 after two rounds that comprised of a shocking 11 over par 47 on the back nine on Day 1 after a passable 2 over par 37 on the front nine. Round two was much better with Emeka carding 4 over par 39 on the front nine and 4 over par 40 on the back nine to finish with 8 over par 79.

Zane Scotland of England eventually won the event after holding off a late charge from Wales’ Stephen Dodd. Scotland, who led by three shots overnight, closed with a 2 under par 69 to go eight under for the tournament to complete a wire-to-wire victory on Wednesday.

Dodd, a three-time winner on the European Tour, finished second on 6 under after a final round 69.

Pakistan’s Mohammed Munir finished third on 5 under par.

A strong field of 120 players that included 36 amateurs vied for honours in the Open, which is the opening event of the six-stop tour that boasts a combined prize fund of $325,000.

Still to go for the Nigerian quartet are the Abu Dhabi GOLF CITIZEN Open, American Express Dirab Saudi Championship, Ras Al Khaimah Classic, Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open and the MENA Tour Championship.