The rate at which golf is growing in Africa has been criticised, but a new project in Nigeria is making the first steps towards expanding the presence of the game across the continent.

Speaking at a Starting New at Golf (SNAG) demonstration in the Ikoyi neighbourhood of Lagos, Nigeria, SNAG master trainer Tony Howarth said: “Africa is still a continent in the early stages of golf development and programmes such as Starting New At Golf in Nigeria will go a long way to introducing the sport to the masses.”

Africa has not been short of golfing talent over the years, with Ernie Els, Gary Player and Nick Price coming to mind. But the sport has been very much focused on South Africa and Zimbabwe, and is yet to realise its potential in other regions of the continent.

The project has now been running for over a decade, and provides kids with ‘age appropriate equipment and programming to effectively teach the game of golf’.

The start-up in Nigeria has been cited as a great opportunity to introduce and develop golf in a market previously unused.

The event in Lagos was at the request of 2AT Nigeria, a golf promotion company that works in partnership with International Golf Development.

“Golf holds a lot of potentials for the Nigerian environment,” said Adekemi Badmus of 2AT Nigeria. “So when we help the kids to imbibe the game this early, we are simply equipping them with life skills to grow up with, even beyond the possibility of making golf a profession.”

The SNAG project has been successful in various other parts of the world, and its bid to lay the foundations for the sport to flourish in a continent previously untouched could be the start of something big for golf in Africa.