Oboh dreams better fortune at South African Women Open

Georgia Oboh’s career as a professional golfer has not gone exactly the way she planned it. And it is not because of want of trying.

Since winning the Cote d’Ivoire Open in her debut in the paid ranks, the 18-year-old Nigerian has just fallen shot in the major competitions she has featured in. But in all these, the verdict is that she has the talent to do better; given more time.

When that time would come is not certain yet, but one thing is clear: The Ikoyi Club-raised teenager is not scared of the fight in the Ladies European Tour (LET).

Most young players would take time off to recover from the rigours of their failure to make the final cut in two different tournaments in Australia, but not Oboh. The young girl is already in South Africa, working hard to do better than her last outing in the Rainbow country earlier this year. And the signs are good.

It is the Investec 2019 South African Women’s Open scheduled for the Westlake Golf Club in Cape Town, which started yesterday and ends on tomorrow. Oboh plans to do better than her 113 finish in her last outing in Australia out of 137 players at the New South Wales Ladies Open.

Oboh played 78/78 over the two days in Australia, ending with +14, which was not enough to make the cut of +3.

Reflecting on her game so far, the Edo State-born golfer said one of the lessons she has learnt so far is arriving in a venue early to get acquainted with the golf courses, as well as the environment well in advance of the tournaments. She admitted that this has not been easy for her this year due to funding issues.

She alluded that her team would aim to seek the required funds from other sources, as the promises they had this year were not fulfilled in enough time to get the necessary preparatory work done.

For now, Oboh, who is still the only Nigerian member of the Ladies European Tour in its 41-year history, is hoping that this will attract interested parties to support her funding requirements.

Oboh was invited by the organisers of the South African Women’s Open based on her exploits in her last two outings. Being the biggest ladies golf professional event on the African continent and co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour, Oboh said she is excited to be invited for the top class tournament.

“I am very happy to have been invited to the three Ladies European Tour events so early in my career and this is awesome. This has given me the opportunity to learn from the more experienced seasoned professionals,” Oboh said.

Defending champion – South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai is gunning for a fourth trophy as she returns to Westlake Golf Club in Cape Town to defend the title in the co-sanctioned event between the LET and Sunshine Ladies Tour.