100 golfers from all over the nation took part in the 2020 MTN Invitational Golf Tournament which took place at the Celebrity Golf Club at Sakumono om Saturday.
At the end of healthy encounters, Felix Kwame Akafo came out winning the Men’s Group A with 41 points, he was followed by Ellias K. with 39 points and Christopher Mbii who got 38 points.
Okoe Tackie won the Men’s Group B with 47 points, followed by Ross Han with 39 points and Alex Oppong – Bafour also at 39 points.
Georgina Andoh placed first in the Ladies Category with a score of 43 (33). Leticia Amponsah Mensah was second with 34 (10) and Helen Amponsah placed third on 43 (33), while Vivian Dick took the fourth position with a score 32 (16).
Charles Mantey won the Senior’s event with 37 points. He was followed by Jimmy Thorme with 30 points and Esther Antwi with 22 points, while the Elder’s trophy was taken by Mrs Owusu Adyapong. Closest to the pin was won by Isaac Awuni, while Christopher Mbii took the prize for the Men Longest drive.
Flora Hurtubiase won the Ladies longest drive and closest to the pin trophies. All the winners received special prizes from MTN, the sponsor.
Ishmael Yamson, board chairman of MTN Ghana eulogized the late Dr. Plange Rhule in whose memory the tournament was held. He commended the organisers for sustaining the event for the past eight years, despite challenges. He expressed that consistent playing of golf has helped the winners.
Samuel Koranteng, Corporate Services Executive (CSE) of MTN Ghana described 2020 as an amazing year. “Our dear invitational golf nearly did not happen for obvious reasons. Yet we’ve braced the odds to be here, a testament of our resilience as a people and as business men and women.
The pandemic resulted in a change in plans for the year, top of that, we lost some loved ones including our very own Professor Jacob Plange Rhule, MTN Ghana Foundation Board member and an ardent golfer. We will celebrate him in a special way,” he said.
According to him the tournament was organised to provide golfers an opportunity to relax, re-strategize and share insights on business performance in our usual cordial atmosphere. I am sure we have had a therapeutic effect playing.
“Please permit me to share some insights into our business activities for the year 2020. We themed 2020 as ‘The Year of the Customer, The Digital Experience’. This theme is in line with our objective to become a digital operator by the year 2023.
He said they are empowering the customer to interact with MTN through its ayoba and myMTN apps. There are so many functions on these apps and he encouraged all to download ayoba and myMTN app from the Google Play Store and the Appstore.
“We also had to make serious interventions as a good corporate citizen to support government’s efforts at fighting the pandemic, some of these include: using our platforms (caller tunes, SMS etc) to create awareness and educate people on the need to adhere to the protocols; providing, through the MTN Ghana Foundation GH¢5 million worth of PPE; and medical supplies and other essential items for first responders across the country.
Others are zero rating well over 200 educational websites to facilitate e-learning activities of students at home; significant investment in our network to ensure adequate resilience and optimum performance to support Work from Home plans by organisations and individuals who had to use that approach to stay safe. In all the total support to fight COVID -19 for stakeholders such as customers, staff and the community was GH¢100 million,” he revealed.
He thanked and congratulated all players, especially the award winners. For those who do not win anything, he asked them to enjoy the lunch, interact and come back stronger and make us all proud at the next MTN CEO invitational.
He reminded everyone to stay safe even as the country gets closer to the elections. “Wear your mask everywhere you go. At MTN we say, Be W.I.S.E meaning- ‘Wear It Safely Everywhere You Go’, and ‘We Are Good together’,” he added.
