….Ilorin Golf Club targets producing more professional golfers, as part of its 50 years celebration…
Jide Allen is the Captain of Ilorin Golf Club. The former Kwara table tennis star spoke to sportsbash.com.ng on his journey to becoming a golfer, and the challenges of running the Club, despite daunting challenges.
Excerpts:
Who is Jide Allen?
Jide Allen is presently a golfer. Born in Lokoja, when Lokoja was in Kwara state. My Mum told me that I was born as the one Yorubas used to refer to as Abiona. I was born in front of a Court in Lokoja, when incidentally, the Judge, who was wearing a red robe, was about to give judgment on a major case. The red robe signifies that he was about to give a sentence relating to death. The noise from outside the Court attracted the Judge, who had to suspend proceedings for a while, but came back to discharge and acquit the man standing trial, because of what happened…my birth.
By 1973, my Dad relocated to Ilorin, and since then, I have been in Ilorin. My dad, being a military man, a war veteran, and because of the nature of his job, moved from one place to the other, but since we came to Ilorin, it has become home for us.
I grew up here, went to primary and secondary schools here. I went to Chapel Nursery and Primary School and C&S College in Ilorin, where I actually had the exposure to sports, thanks to the then Principal of the school, Dr. David O. Akintola. From there, I proceeded to ABU Zaria for my degree, and came back to University of Ilorin. It’s been a worthwhile experience growing up in Ilorin.
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You were initially known as a table tennis player who also represented the state in numerous competitions. How did you come into golf?
My interest in table tennis is actually difficult to explain. I didn’t know how I found myself in table tennis. Just about the time I was going to write my WAEC examinations, I realised I needed more time to study, and I thought I could take a break. I took the break, and never returned to it again.
For golf, I can say golf is a family game, because I grew up knowing that my dad was a golfer. He had several trophies on his cabinet, when you got into our living room, what caught your attention was the array of trophies on the cabinet, and I was wondering; was this man so good that he won all these trophies? I also realise too, that my mum played golf. They will always bring us to the Club, especially during closing ceremonies of competitions, and we will sit down and wait patiently, and when winners are being called up for prizes, we’ll see that my dad was called as one of the winners. So, by the time I was to resume from my self imposed suspension from sports, I just felt, golf is the thing. I started playing golf in 1991.
Were you a Caddie before joining golf?
No. I was never a Caddie. Like I said, I would always come here, watch my dad play, come during closing ceremonies of competitions, while waiting for the ceremonies to happen, myself and my siblings would get hold of the club, try it out on our own….while they would be having their activities, we are busy hacking balls around. Those were my closest to golf. I just started on my own, and like most golfers around will always say that it’s hard to see someone who has not been a caddie before now playing to that particular level, the level that we are playing up to zero handicap.
One interesting thing about it is, I never received any formal golf training. I would only read literature about golf. I read about golf swings…the one I think took a lot of time to really understand the techniques was Fred Couples, where he analysed his swings with pictures to back it up.
Most Caddies always end up being golfers. Do we now say that it was an unconscious training ahead of being a golfer?
Of course, you can’t be around the Golf Club and not be interested in the game. We have members who come here as social members, but end up being converted after a while, because they are swayed by what is happening around them. They try to belong, even if they are not playing serious golf. Same for the Caddies. They are so exposed to the game. There is little or nothing that’s left for them to see. They have Caddied for several players, players with different approaches to the game, players with different kinds of swings, both Amateurs and Professionals. They have an avalanche of golf swings, game tactics, approaches and mentalities. So, it’s easy for them to put all of that together and say, this is the type of golfer I want to be.
Secondly, the Club is doing a lot to encourage Caddies. Every Monday is Caddies’ Day, from the break of dawn till 3,00pm. We give them the opportunity to play, and we have competitions for Caddies.
Last year, we had about five different competitions for Caddies, sponsored by Club members who are either celebrating their birthdays, or just throwing up. It has always been the practice. Some members are known for that. Aside from that, when some members procure new golf kits, they give the old ones to their Caddie. There is also what we call ECOMOG, that’s having sets of different brands, and putting them together to have a complete set. Some are lucky to have the entire complete set. They also get golf shoes and others.
Also, the Kwara Golf Association is doing a lot in that regard. Under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Farouk Ismail, no less than three Caddies have received golf kits from the association. Once we discover those of them who are interested and also have the potential, we make that sacrifice. We have members who would say this golf set is in the pool, for any Caddie to make use of it and return it after use.
And no offence is taken by any player who comes to the Course on Monday and there is no Caddy to Caddy him, because we all know it’s Caddies’ Day.
What’s the relationship between the Kwara Golf Association and Ilorin Golf Club?
To say it’s cordial would be an understatement. This is because, as the Chairman Kwara Golf Association, someone who had been the Captain of the Club before now, Alhaji Farouk Ismail, and incidentally, I was his Vice Captain during his second coming in 2015. At that particular time, Kwara Golf Association was inaugurated, and Engr Yusuf Lanre Sagaya was the Chairman, and was Chairman of all Chairmen of all Sports Associations in the state. The relationship is absolutely cordial.
Like I said, to say cordial is an understatement. I am a member of Kwara Golf Association and the Captain of Ilorin Golf Club. I belong to the two ends.
Back to table tennis. You represented the state at various competitions. You were your contemporaries when you were playing?
I started playing table tennis in 1983, as a junior player. I had the privilege of training under Coach Kasali Lasisi, the former Commonwealth champion, when he was the Head Coach of table tennis at the Kwara State Sports Council. I mentioned that I went to C&S College, Ilorin. In the College, the Principal provided the platform for all his students to excel in whatever chosen field. Baba, as we fondly call him then, will always tell you, “a lazy Nigerian is a dangerous Nigerian”. so, whatever you find yourself doing, be serious about it.
For those of us who ventured into sports, he didn’t only talk about it, there were concrete actions on ground that would make you excel. School will close by 2.00pm, and we are to have one hour break between 2.00pm to 3.00pm. We would return for afternoon prep as day students, not as boarding students. It was compulsory. We’ll be in school for prep from 3.00pm to 5.00pm, but for those of us whose sport has no facilities in the school, we are giving a pass for us to go past the school gate to the stadium. But for every other game, there are facilities at the school. Initially, we didn’t have a table tennis facility at the school, but by the time Sule Olaleye and Bolaji Niniola joined the school, the table tennis team was organised even better. I wasn’t the best player, and I wasn’t a national team player, but the two of them conceded and made me the school’s team Captain.
We had a table tennis board that we kept at the corner of our dining hall. In the absence of Bolaji and Sule, I will be the champion, beating any other player.
So, I picked up table tennis, and by 1985 when Kwara state was to host the National Sports Festival, that was the first time the National Sports Festival was reduced to intermediate category only. Before 1985, we used to have the junior, intermediate and senior categories. At that point, I was a junior player. Kwara had many intermediate players, but two players who were in the junior category then were about the best…Rashidi Eto, who was the champion in the 19 Northern states and myself. We were merged up with the intermediate players for exposure and experience. We were in camp in preparation for the festival, and in-between the preparation, we had to travel to Lagos for Omo Championship, which was being organised then by Lever Brothers. We started the year with the Coca-Cola Championship in February, and in August, at the Rowe Park in Lagos, it would be the time for Star CUp, being sponsored by Nigerian Breweries and the Red Cross. And in November, it’s the Omo Championship. Sometimes, by the end of November and early December, there would be the Bournvita Championship, an international event, to wrap up the year. In-between, there was the Asoju Oba Cup for Lagos players only. That’s how the calendar was then.
When still in camp for the festival, we went to Lagos.
At the end of the festival, the table tennis final was Kwara against Kwara in the Men’s Singles final, Bolaji Niniola and Sule Olaleye. It was a dramatic and emotional final. Bolaji was the African champion in the intermediate class, and was searching for national honours. Sule was Nigeria’s Number Three. Atanda Musa was Number One, while Yomi Bankole was Number Two. I won gold in the team event of the festival.
By 1986, we went to Lagos, Rowe Park Sports Centre, that was for the Star Cup, in August. I played against Segn Toriola in the quarter-final Boys Singles. Then, Toriola was using an anti-spin racquet, and that gave him an edge in the match. My coach encouraged me to prepare well ahead of the Coca-Cola Championship in February 1987. When we met again, we were both talking tough, but that was the year we were elevated from the junior to intermediate class, and with that, we didn’t have the opportunity of meeting again. But, I played in the competition. Olayinka, who had been registered for the intermediate category unfortunately couldn’t make the team. My Coach Kasali Lasisi asked that I replace him on the chart. And in my first game in the intermediate category, I lost. And that was how I left table tennis.
Tell us more about golf. There is the belief that golf is an elitist game, or rather, the game for the rich. How true is this?
It’s not practically true. I see it as interest. It’s a game that’s being propelled by interest. What is it that makes people believe that it’s a game for the elitists? Maybe the cost of acquiring the golf kits. But, I tell you one thing, you don’t necessarily have to change a golf kit that you buy this year in the next 10 to 15 years. It’s that durable. That’s exactly what it is, except, yes, you want to show class, or there is a new brand or a new maker of kits, and you feel you want to change it. Except again, maybe the accessories, the golf balls, t-peg, the gloves….those are the things that you need to replace. Even when the grips of the set go bad, you can easily replace them. That’s all.
Like I said, its about interest, depending on what you want to spend your money on. You can sample opinions from golfers. Golfers hardly get sick. It’s all about health, wellness and togetherness. If you are having a slight headache, or a disorder within your system, all you need to do is just come out and play nine holes. By the time you are done playing nine holes, you are sweating, and whatever the discomfort you are feeling going through the game will disappear. Golf involves the whole of your body, your upper body and your lower body is involved in the swings. Your mental capability is also being put to test, because you are thinking of what club you will use to take my ball to this place, and now that I have gotten on the green, you need to read the borrows on the green… It takes concentration for you to look at where the undulations are, where the breaks are, where to play the ball, what speed to apply, to allow the ball to roll into the hole. So, physically and mentally, it’s demanding. And by the time you are done with that, you come to the Club House and feel fulfilled. Some people don’t see it that way, and may decide to spend their money otherwise. That’s why I said, it’s all about interest.
As the Captain of Ilorin Golf Club for the second consecutive term running, what are the challenges of running the Club, and what are the major breakthroughs so far?
Challenges are there, and we cannot run away from them. Often at times, it’s the resources that’s the main challenge that we have, as a management team of this Golf Club. We are presently in the dry season, about to enter the rainy season. Our course is looking brown. The grasses have dried up, but the potting surfaces are green, and must remain green. On the field, you can make do with dry grasses, but on the potting surfaces, they have to be green. We thank God,with the support of members of the club, we are able to keep the greens green.
We have 18 greens and one practice potting holes. The whole 19 potting surfaces are green. But if we have the resources, we probably would have kept the entire course green all through until when the rain comes.
As far as breakthroughs are concerned, there are lots of breakthroughs. If a ‘people’ gets what they want, they put their hearts to it, and they will be able to achieve whatever goals they have set for themselves. It’s not about the contest, it’s about the Club identifying that at this particular point in time, let us give the management, or put the management of the Club in the hands of the people. At the end of the first tenure of one year, the entire members, at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), said, why are we changing leadership? Let this set of people continue. But we have people who have stayed in a particular position for two years. By the Constitution of the Club, they will have to change position or move out. It happened to two of the offices. One person swapped positions, and the second person, because of the exigencies of his work, had to bow out. So, there was only one position that was vacant. And the person that came in occupied the position unopposed. Give it to the entire members of the club, I can say, we have three generations of golfers, age wise.
We have the very elderly, and we have as the Board of Trustees (BOT), those who found themselves in the elderly group. The Chairman is Justice Lambo Akanbi (rtd), Engr Yusuf Lanre Sagaya, who is the Zanna of Ilorin, Otunba Olusola Adekanola, Pharmacist Lai Maliki and Dr, Funsho Abogunrin. Those five are members of the BOT of Ilorin Golf Club. They represent a generation. I and a few others represent the second generation, then, coming behind us, there is a younger generation. Across those three generations, we the management found ourselves…we found favour before those three generations. So, we have the very elderly supporting us, pushing us and giving us the necessary things to achieve the set goals. Now, you have your own generation and you are telling them, you must not fail. These people ahead of us, they entrusted the management of the Club into our hand, we must not fail them. That’s the motivating factor for us. And we have the coming generation. What example do we want to bequeath on them? They are looking up to us. They are looking at the relationship between us and the elders. We must lay down good examples for them. So, for us as a management, we keep challenging ourselves, because we have the support across the different generations. It looks like we are performing wonders; it’s not us.
Competition-wise, last year 2024, we had five Open Championships. I mean, fine national events. Two of these events were handled by our consultants. SLOQFORT, because we looked at what it was that we could do. They approached us about marketing the competition, and we gave approval. We had three other events, and one of them was a Ladies national competition, an Open. The very first one was the one sponsored by the Chairman of the BOT, Justice Lambo Akanbi (rtd), through his establishment, Emirate Global Hotel. They actually set the ball rolling for the other four to come in 2024. In our calendar last year, we had the ICMA Professional Services Open ProAm. The last time we had a ProAm event was a long time ago. It gave us the opportunity to showcase the Club to the world.
It helped to register the Club’s presence globally. The second edition is coming this year. We have gotten approval for that, and it’s coming up in October.
And if you look at the surroundings, we have been able to do a lot in terms of general maintenance and cleaning. Beautiful flowers, even at this period of the year. A member of the Club donated the acrostic flowers to us. Mr Emmanuel Femi Abodoye (FEMTEC). We have.been able to change the look of the Club’s surroundings.
On the field of play, we have been able to erect water hazards on the course. If you are familiar with watching golf on the international scene, you will see some areas where we have flowing waters, that sometimes when you play, your ball may fall into it. They are parts of hazards on the course. The ICMA that gave us competition last year felt, since they are the sponsor of hole 7, what is it that we can do to make the hole more challenging. The hole is a short hole, it’s so accommodating that even when you miss your shots from the tee box, you are still OK. We decided to carve out a large portion between the tee box and the green. There is a water hazard, a swimming pool-like, filled with water, and it’s a water fountain. So, if you miss your tee shot, the ball will drop into the water. And if it drops into the water hazard, you don’t get to recover it, and you are not allowed by rule to recover the ball. You are also penalised again. You will drop another ball beside the water hazard and continue, but meanwhile, you would have incurred a penalty of one stroke. It’s more challenging, more difficult and of course, adds to the beauty of the course.
There are lots of contributions coming here and there, this same ICMA last year gave us a brand new Ferguson Tractor. With that, we are not scared of the rainy season in terms of slashing and maintaining the green. The members are wonderful. It’s not about the management, but about the members bringing all we needed to support the growth of the Club.
How would you rate Ilorin Golf Club, especially considering its contributions to the golfing world, and as one of the leading Golf Clubs in the country?
I am pleased to inform you that Ilorin Golf Club will be 50 years old this year, and there are plans to celebrate Ilorin Golf Club at 50. And part of the plans are, we have looked at….the last time I talked about Caddies picking up interest in the game and becoming players. Beyond becoming players, becoming professionals, earning a living through golf. We have looked at what Ilorin Golf Club has been able to do in terms of contributions to the game of golf professionally. We have products of this Club who are scattered across the country.
In Abuja, IBB Golf and Country Club, we have Gboyega Oyebanji, who was at one point, Nigeria Number One. We have Mohammed Liman, who started here as a Caddie, just like Gboyega. We have Segun Obamuwe, also in Abuja. They are our products. At TYB Golf Club in Abuja, we have James Okoromi, who equally started here. We have four of our players in Abuja. In Lagos, we have Salihu Liman and Tajudeen Ajiboye in Ikeja. At Lakowe Golf Club, we have Friday Adache, a former Resident Professional here. Seun Ologun, who is also in Lagos started here as a Caddie too. He is in Ikoyi Golf Club in Lagos.
Down South, we have Mustapha Aminu at Phantom Golf Club in Port Harcourt. He is the elder brother to Kadiri Aminu, the former footballer. In Benin Golf Club, we have Solomon Okoromi, who is the best player there today. All these players are products of Ilorin Golf Club. I can come out boldly, and stand before the leadership of Professional Golfers Association of Nigeria (PGAN), to say….Ilorin Golf Club contributes to the make-up of professional golfers in this country.
Our plan is actually to bring back all these golfers, as we celebrate Ilorin Golf Club at 50, and to celebrate them as well.
You are getting huge support from members. What about the state government?
The state government is really supporting us, but there is still room to do more. I must at this point acknowledge the support of the Executive Chairman of the Kwara State Sports Commission, Mallam Bola Magaji. Himself being a sportsman, he actually understands sporting language. There used to be a story that was making the rounds at some.point that when a football coach requested for 24 balls from a Chief Executive, the Chief Executive said, it’s only one ball that’s been played on the field, why request for 24? If you don’t know, you don’t know.
So, if we say we need, as individual golfers, we need 100 practicing balls and 12 playing balls. You go into the range and want to practice with all your clubs. I cannot be waiting for you to finish with the balls before I go to the range. And I cannot be playing five to ten balls and now wait for my Caddie to bring those 10 balls before I do another round. So, at least, we need 100 balls for each player on the range. But like I said, there is room for improvement. It can get better. We got government support during the competitions we held, but we need more. I was telling you about us making our course all-round green all through the year. We can get that kind of support from the government. It will go a long way to help the club and of course, further re-establish Ilorin Golf Club as the Mecca of golf in the country.
As a golfer, what would be your message to those outside on the benefits of playing the game?
I told you about some members who have been in the Club for years as social members and not playing members. The moment anyone of them starts playing or someone outside of the golfing family that you have been encouraging to come.and play……the present Chairman of the Kwara State Golf Association, Alhaji Farouk Ismail had his golf kits inside his car for like 10 to 12 years. He was coming to the Club, but was never playing. That’s to tell you he was set, he had joined, he had procured the kits but had not just got the will to start playing. So. When I see few of them who found themselves in such a situation or anyone is wooing someone who has had the opportunity before now to be a golfer but has not, it’s their experience I will.use to advise those outside, who are undecided yet, that their only regret would be, why haven’t I started before now. That’s always their story.
For those who are still undecided, please decide. Golf is life. It will be the best decision they have made.
