The Sun News On-line

You may not know it, but you can play the most famous golf course in the world, the Royal and Ancient Course at St. Andrews, Scotland for some meagre sum.

Across the fairways in India, you will encounter deadly snakes that wiggle about and in some cases, you are not permitted to kill them. Shocked? Don't be. You are just entering the enchanting world of golf.

Imagine some more, in Egypt, there is a course near the Pyramids that is nothing but huge sand traps with no vegetation whatsoever and people still play it. In Nepal, they have golf courses that are 7,000ft up in the shadow of the Himalayas. Are you curious? Don't be. You are just getting to know how intriguing the game of golf could be.

Above all this, it is on good record that some of the most beautiful golf courses in the world are located in distant places. The Royal Golf Club de Belgique, once the royal hunting ground of King Leopold, has 50 variety of trees lining its fairways. The Delhi Golf Club in Calcutta, India, is sheer paradise. This one is rich in vegetation and beautiful birds of endless variety flit among its trees, and truly, the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club near Manilla is regarded as one of the world's most beautiful and exacting.

This one is unbelievable, but it is true. In Hong Kong and Switzerland, grazing cattle are used to keep the fairways well manicured and lush. In Africa, the first approach had to do with people who modelled the game's vital equipment from tree limbs... with knots for club heads and bat rocks into improvised holes.

In Belgium, housewives are known to carry the burden of golfers as caddies. Young smiling girls perform some chores in Japan. Moreover, in Tahiti, you will confront a place filled with so many pretty girls who do nothing but wander round the fairways to that point you could be losing concentration now and then. The whole gist is getting rosy. This probably makes the question to linger… When did the game of golf come into Nigeria?

This is the point where the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), under the watchful eyes of Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, comes into the picture. The man, Runsewe, knows it by heart that tourism can never function to the optimum without the game of golf. The man, again, knows it that tourists from all over the world will not have to engage in golf treats in Nigeria while having it in mind that they would either play in Ikoyi or Abuja. Nigeria is blessed with close to 60 golf courses. Each of these courses has its history.

The story, most of the time, has to do with the people, their culture and their make-up. Runsewe wants foreigners to play in the about 60 courses in Nigeria. He wants foreigners, after their games, to imbibe the culture and the make-up of the people in those areas they play their golf. He wants them to visit tourism areas in the places they play their golf. He wants them to patronise, market-wise, people in the areas they play their golf. This is enough reason to present a book on golf courses in Nigeria. He wants tourists to have a choice. Otunba Runsewe, as the Director General of the NTDC, wants tourists to know where they can play their golf in about 60 golf courses in Nigeria.

The NTDC book on golf is an extra-ordinary document. The book touches on about everything... from the history of golf in Nigeria to relationship between golf and tourism. The book highlights everything about all the major golf courses in Nigeria. The book moves further to present the best six golf courses in Nigeria. You have to see the book to ensure if your course is rated among the best six in the country.

The book moves further. It touches on golf personalities in Nigeria. At this point, you would be wondering who are those personalities quoted, but I can reveal to you that the immediate past President, Olusegun Obasanjo, made the list. I can equally tell you that OBJ in Ilorin did, indeed, tee it off in full 'agbada and sokoto'. You doubt this? Well, pictures don't lie. Everything is in screaming colour in the NTDC golf book.

"I am fulfilled about this," Otunba Runsewe said about the book. "I have always known it that golf and tourism must go together. I have always known that foreigners find it hard to book games in Nigeria. They all believe that everything about golf in Nigeria has to do with Ikoyi and IBB golf courses in Lagos and Abuja respectively. This book has proved that Nigeria is blessed with great courses, which foreigners will love. We in the NTDC picked these courses and we offered information on them. Details are in the book.

"We made it so concise that foreigners from anywhere in the world can know where to play golf in Nigeria. This is not all. The book, indeed, informs tourists the cultural places where they can visit after their golf games. The book is divine. It's everything about golf in Nigeria. I recommend it to all foreigners."