In line with its agenda to develop sports and its infrastructure in the country, Tullow Ghana Limited, an oil exploration firm, has funded the renovation of the Achimota Golf Course in Accra to an internationally accepted standard.

The oil firm pegs the structural renovation works at $3 million and took project officers nearly twelve months to complete, officials have said.

"I think everyone will be excited about the upgrade, and hopefully this will bring in more competitive tournaments and whip up interest, especially among the youth.

“Greens are the number one thing people look for in a course, with pace of play being next and thankfully all these challenges have been addressed,” Bernice Natue, Communications and Investment Manager of Tullow Ghana, said during an inspection tour with the media on Tuesday.



She says the upgrade means the Achimota Golf Course now boasts of 18 holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, which covers approximately 8 kilometers.

The upgrade makes Ghana the first West African country with internationally recognized golf course thus joining the league of South Africa and Kenya in Africa.

While urging Ghanaians, particularly the youth to take advantage of the upgrade and show interest in the sport, Madam Natue assured her outfit readiness to provide additional funds for “routine maintenance works to keep the course at a high-quality level”.

“The sponsorship is strictly in line with our social responsibility programme and for some time now Tullow has decided to help in the development of sports in the country, which is why it graciously accepted to sponsor the upgrade of the course when the company was approached by members of the course,” she explained.

Mr Amoafo Yeboah, who is in charge of tournaments at the course, on his part, thanked Tullow for what he described as a “kind gesture” and urged other corporate organizations to emulate the example.

He disclosed that the bad nature of the course had always stalled plans of organizing competitive tournaments that would have attracted top-notch players as well as unearthing talents.

“…I don’t want to spill the beans now but with this upgrade we are much placed to organize competitive tournaments and by so doing also attract potential investors…so let us all work hard to enhance this wonderful sport in the country,” he added.

Against this backdrop, he revealed that roughly Ghc1 million would be needed annually to keep the course in shape adding that some funds would be generated internally to support its maintenance.

Charles Ofori, member of the Achimota Golf Course, also could not hide his delight as he thanked management of Tullow for the support.

"This is a magnificent course we've got here now. It's very challenging and it's great to see corporate organizations putting more money into what we call as lesser known sports.

“"I think this upgrade will bring a lot of people here and improve play. It's a nice, comfortable course in a good area so we are all happy about it,” elated Mr Ofori stated.