Former captain of the Achimota Golf Club, Sjoerd Grueter, shrugged off stiff competition from a field of cracked golfers to win the maiden 3i Africa Summit Invitational Golf Tournament played at the Achimota Golf Course on Tuesday.
The one-day 18-hole Stableford event was organised to herald the 3i Africa Summit 2026 in Accra and to celebrate the 58th birthday of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama.
Over 100 amateur golfers from various clubs in Ghana and across Africa featured in the championship.
In the Men’s group A category, Sjoerd Grueter playing Handicap 9 garnered 30 Stableford points, to beat Isaac Aninakwah and Solomon Allotey both of whom played Handicap 8 and 9 respectively to earn 38 Stableford points apiece.
In the Men’s group B category, Moses Kanduri took first position with 38 Stableford points with Handicap 20, Max Ernst Heinrich playing Handicap 14 beat Charles Ofori on countback to place second after both grabbed 38 points apiece.
In the Ladies group A category, Vastie Amoafo-Yeboah playing at Handicap 12, stole the show with 34 Stableford points to beat Princess Nkansah-Boadu on countback while Emma Bulley followed in third with 32 points at Handicap of 12.
Playing at Handicap 26, Anita Ohene Mantey bagged 41 points to beat Akua Tamakloe (40 points) and Christine Furler (38 points) to second and third places respectively in the Ladies group B category.
In the visitors men’s category, Joe Mucheru playing Handicap 24, grabbed 38 Stableford points to win while Nshuti Mbabazi played Handicap 26 to bag home 34 points.
Yaw Afriyie picked home the longest drive (hole 15) while that of the women went to Letitia Amponsah-Mensah with the men’s closest to the pin (hole 18) went to Sjoerd Grueter with Helen Appah winning that of the women.
Dr Asiama, who performed the official tee-off, congratulated the golfers for coming out in their numbers on an unusual golfing day to make the tournament a huge success.
He tasked the Ghana Golf Association (GGA) and the Achimota Golf Club to explore avenues to make it possible for Ghana to host a world tournament within the next three years.
According to him, Ghana is a great destination for prestigious sports like golf, and a great course like the Achimota Golf course can host the rest of the world.
“For us at the Bank of Ghana, we feel that this is a good initiative to support. Just as we are supporting the 3i Africa Invitational Golf Tournament, we will also support such a worthy cause,” he indicated.
BY RAYMOND ACKUMEY
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