Francis Epe during the final round of the Sunshine Development Tour West Africa Q-School at Lakowe Lakes Golf Estate in Lagos, Nigeria/HANDOUT Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing tournament
director David Kihara, has commended the level of competition at the West Africa
Qualifying School, which concluded in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday.
Kihara highlighted the significance of the Lakowe Lakes Golf Estate tour.
“The level of competition we’ve seen this week has been very
encouraging. There is a clear depth of talent across this region and platforms
like this are exactly what is needed to help this talent grow,” he said.
“The Sunshine Development Tour is about creating opportunities and giving players a structured, merit-based pathway to compete, earn world
ranking points, and progress to the next level. Expanding into West Africa is
an important step in building a truly continental platform for African golf.”
The West Africa Qualifying School follows the East Africa edition held in Kenya, won by Ali Wasim.
Nigeria’s Francis Epe delivered a
commanding performance to win the Lagos leg, finishing on an impressive 7-under par 209 after
three rounds.
Epe, who entered the final round at the top of the
leaderboard, sealed victory in style with a superb 5-under par 67, underlining
his consistency across the week to secure a dominant win on home soil.
“I’m really pleased with how I played this week. I stayed
patient, trusted my game, and tried to keep things simple out there. Coming
into the final round with the lead, the focus was just to stay composed and
take it one shot at a time,” said Epe.
“To finish the way I did is very satisfying. This
means a lot, especially playing at home, and it gives me a lot of confidence
going into the Tour season.”
Epe finished a remarkable nine shots clear of his closest
challengers — Ghana’s Barry Dzadey, and Nigerian duo of Bako Kamalu and Godwin Okoko, who shared second place on 2-over par 218.
A further tie for fifth place on 3-over par 219 included
Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh and Solomon Ideriah.
With both regional qualifiers now complete, attention turns to the start of the Sunshine Development Tour season, with the first leg set for April 19-21 at Thika Sports Club, where players will compete for Order of Merit honours, Official World Golf Ranking points, and progression to the Sunshine Tour.
