The first MTN Invitational Golf tourney came off successfully at the Achimota Golf Club on Saturday, March 27 with scores of golfers, male and female, in radiant attendance.
With COVID-19 truncating the regular golfing season, this was an opportunity for golfers and lovers of the sport to once again come together, have fun and stretch their bodies to stay fit and indeed they made the most of the one-day tournament.
Amateur golfer, Chris Mbii from the Tafo Golf Club emerged winner of the tournament. Mbii, a Banker by profession played handicap two to record 40 points to win ahead of Church Ansah who played handicap four scoring 41 points and Mawuli Ababio with handicap 10 to amass 40 points.
In the ladies’ category, Alberta Lomofio brushed aside competition from Jiang Yang and Rita Pellegrino after recording a gross score of 45 to win the ultimate prize whilst Max Prah won the Men’s Bronze with Gustav Godonou and Masina Pacal occupying the second and third position respectively.
The Men Seniors division was won by Kweku Sekyim while Joy Arkutu won in the ladies’ category. The two scored 41 and 35 to walk home with trophies and products from the headline sponsor, MTN.
All the winners went home with trophies and products from MTN for their impressive performance. At the event of the one-day competition, Edward Annobil won the Men’s Closest to the pin award whilst Leticia Amponsah Mensah won the ladies’ category. With the best longest drive accolade, Felix Akafo and Vivian Dick emerged champions.
Dr. Ishmael Yamson, the MTN Board Chairman, commended the winners and participants for the sterling display adding that, “as we all know, the end of the first quarter of this year has given us an indication of a steady pick up of economic activities. For us at MTN, we maintain a positive attitude, just as golfers do when playing on the golf course. We remain focused on our theme for the year which seeks to provide an enhanced digital experience for the customer.”
He reaffirmed his outfit’s commitment to developing golf in the country saying “this is the beginning of many competitions that would be held within the year and I am excited Achimota hosted a very grand competition to begin activities. We are committed to developing golf in Ghana.”
He said MTN Ghana is on course to transition into a full digital operator in the next few years.
“While that is happening, we are set to celebrate our 25th anniversary as a business. To demonstrate our commitment to the growth of this country, we will continue to make significant investments into our network to ensure optimum performance and a distinct customer experience. We will also support social development programs. We call on all of you to support our initiatives when details of the anniversary are shared when we launch the celebrations.
“We are also embarking on an important exercise towards making mobile financial services more secure for customers. From April 2, we will all be expected to present any National ID when undertaking MoMo cash- out transaction.
“Our support towards the fight against COVID-19 continues unabated. Earlier in the year, MTN Group partnered African Union’s (AU’s) COVID-19 vaccination programme with US$25 million to procure vaccines for Africa. I am happy to say that last Sunday, Ghana received 165,000 AstraZeneca Vaccines for health workers,” he said.
Dr. Yamson called on all to continue adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols and get vaccinated for a healthy community.
Samuel Koranteng, Head of Corporate Affairs commended the golfers who turned out in number for the fantastic and exciting event. He hinted that the 25th anniversary of MTN will be launched virtually in May.
