Mystery over 47 missing golfers

The Scotsman ^ | 7/11/02 | Gethin Chamberlain

[Nexus]

Mystery over 47 missing golfers

Gethin Chamberlain

ORGANISERS of the Open Championship have launched an investigation after 47 out of 48 Nigerians granted visas to enter Britain to take part in the competition failed to turn up for their games.

There are suspicions that some of the would-be golfers had no intention of taking part in the tournament but used the event as an excuse to get past immigration controls.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which organises the tournament, has expressed surprise at the size of the entry from a country not normally associated with top-class golf, and concern about the failure of the golfers to show up.

The mystery deepened yesterday when both the Nigerian Golf Union and the Nigerian High Commission denied any knowledge of such a large entry.

Top-class golf courses are few and far between in the West African country and the annals of golfing history are not overburdened with the names of Nigerian greats.

Suspicions began to surface when officials at the Open qualifying tournaments reported that their Nigerian contingent had failed to turn up to play.

None of the 11 Nigerians expected at the Hadley Wood course in north London turned up, while Orsett in Essex found itself missing all 13 of its anticipated contestants. Only Trentham in Staffordshire reported a Nigerian golfer arriving to play out of ten who had been expected. Ifeanyi Chukwu went round in 76 but failed to make it through the qualifying round.

Yesterday, Peter Dawson, the secretary of the Royal and Ancient, said: "We did have a large entry from Nigeria in particular and a good number didn’t turn up.

"We are running a championship and we checked as many of them as we could but with the benefit of hindsight, something strange does appear to have gone on."

The Nigerian Golf Union conceded that the entry did appear to be considerably higher than they were aware of. A spokesman said they knew of only two golfers who had been recommended to take part in the championship.

[mgc1122]

Suckers!! Although we aren't any better at detecting these scams than the Brits.

[mikeb704]

Shucks, with a per capita GDP of almost $1,000, who would anyone want to leave?

Michael M. Bates: My Side of the Swamp

[Savage Beast]

When is Brigadoon scheduled to show up again?

Just wondering...

[Gritty]

Nigerians again.

Anytime you find Nigerians, you'll find a scam.

[CFW]

And soon we will all get a letter from some Nigerian who won a golf championship but needs someone to "hold" the winnings until he can be smuggled out of the golf tournament.

[mountaineer]

In my mind's eye: a bunch of Afghan "golfers" arguing that the AK-47s in their bags do not violate the 14-club limit, and that the rules don't prohibit ball markers made of plastique.

[mgc1122]

ROTFLMAO .. good one.

[PLK]

This has GOT to be a joke, right?

[Oldeconomybuyer]

47 missing Nigerian golfers?

Check the water hazard.

[RippleFire]

There are suspicions that some of the would-be golfers had no intention of taking part in the tournament but used the event as an excuse to get past immigration controls.

I guess Sherlock Holmes must have been a fluke.

[TC Rider]

Surely they are all looking for the millions of dollars their late uncles had in UK banks.

[Psalm 73]

Um, alien abduction? : )

[thinden]

Mystery over 47 missing golfers.

maybe they're with the 87 missing enron exec's?

[harrym]

I knew it!!! O.J. IS on the trail and getting revenge for the murder of his beloved wife.

[dakine]

There are suspicions that some of the would-be golfers had no intention of taking part in the tournament but used the event as an excuse to get past immigration controls.

Uh, You think?

[battlecry]

My thoughts exactly...

[Bill Davis FR]

were they nigerian christians or nigerian muslims????

[pabianice]

What! Considering that golf is the national game of Nigeria?

[Poohbah]

They were playing a pickup match, got into the rough at Worcestershire-on-Thames, and then got eaten by the local wildlife. (You have to SEE the rough at Worcestershire-on-Thames to believe it, dude. That cockroach would bite your head off, man--you need an unlicensed nuclear accelerator to kill it.)