Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estate: Beckons the leisure world

Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estate is an unfolding development by ARM, which has opened its doors to golf enthusiasts and other leisure seekers, ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA who witnessed the fifth edition of Southern Sun Ikoyi golf tourney at the resort writes on its allure

Lakowe is one of the sprawling communities on the Ajah-Epe axis of Lagos and it is home to Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estate among others. On the many journeys on this route one has always noticed the huge billboard announcing this golf resort with impressive and attractive images of the beautiful ambience of the property.

One must confessed of being ignorant of the existence of this enclave except for the billboard’s presentation, which one never failed to feed on each time one drives by. However, this ignited one’s curiosity of wanting to discover the real world of the impressive and alluring images on the billboard.

This opportunity finally came when Southern Sun Ikoyi extended invitation for one to attend the fifth edition of its annual golf tournament 2015 held on November 11. The golf tourney, which was used by the hotel to fete its clients and also as fund raiser for a charity course had always held at the Ikoyi Club.

But the hotel decided for a change of venue last year and harped on Lakowe lakes golf. It was a cherished moment and so on November 11, one set out for the event in company of some staff of Publicis Consultant/Soulcomm, photojournalists and others.

It was going to be long stretched journey with us taking off from Maryland, which was the meeting point for the team. We had the ubiquitous Lagos traffic to contend with but that was not enough to dampen one’s enthusiasm as one was excited about the journey and the opportunity it presented.

There was indeed palpable expectation among the team as none had visited the facility before now with only few confessing to have heard of it or had idea of its location. The consensus was that it must be an interesting and fantastic place for Southern Sun Ikoyi to have chosen it as the venue for its yearly golf tourney, which has continued to attract interest from the Lagos golfing community and the corporate world.

But the distance was what many people dreaded given that it was out of town. The fact that it was also a working day was for some of the people a sour point as they expressed doubt as to the number of people that would leave their businesses and other engagements for golf on a Wednesday.

To the relief of many of us, the traffic was not that problematic as earlier feared with the Ajah axis posing a little problem. It was a smooth ride to the facility. By the time we arrived at about noon, the golf tourney had already tee-off but other golfers arrived later as well to join in the fray.

There was already a buzz at the car park session with the place filling up with all sorts of cars while the temporary golf club house and its fore court worn new colours and were heavy with activities of all sorts with Ubong Nseobot, the hotel’s sales and PR manager and her team setting up for the after party while the hotel’s executive chef, Alex Mwaura, also with his team were busy laying out the set for a lunch party.

A number of sponsors and corporate bodies had also set up shops taking over every available space as they competed for the attention of the people. Rwanda Air and Kenya Airways were among the sponsors while one of the cosmetics and beauty firms caught the attention of the people especially the ladies with their young and attractive models and demonstration sessions.

For a first time visitor, one was impressed with the beautiful scenery on parade. It is a bludgeoning project dedicated to deliver one of the finest residential estate cum resort, perhaps the first in the city by ARM. It is a rich and blossoming 4, 000 hectares enclave with natural feel and aesthetics and comes with alluring and picturesque view.

Among its many facilities are residential apartments (of 2/3/4 bedrooms) and a resort hotel of about 45 chalets, which are still under construction and they come with attendant support facilities too. For now the golf course, 18 holes, with its lush and luxuriating greens spiced with undulating setting and running streams and lakes is the poster attraction of the property and the reason for many visitors to the enclave either on a daily or regular intervals basis.

Fun and exciting moment

Obviously, one of the features of golf, which is more of elitist and for the aristocrat though the tide is changing this day, is the fact that it always comes with its own exciting and colourful crowd, which not only cheer the golfers but savour the fun and entertaining moment.

Certainly, there were a lot of fun and excitement to harvest by the time the after party got under way as the golf club was filled by the golfers and other guests particularly some sassy ladies and women of all colours and statues.

You would think that with the distance, not many people who have nothing to do with golf would make their way to the golf club especially on a working day. But the reverse was the case as the after party show was well attended and the people well catered for by chef Mwaura and his team with Nseobot superintending affairs alongside the general manager of the hotel, Mark Loxley.

Awards and prizes were given to some of the golfers for their exceptional display during the event while a number of the guests won prizes ranging from return tickets to exotic destinations and weekends and dining and wining at Southern Sun Ikoyi.

The children of Arrows of God Orphanage, the beneficiaries of the charity fund-raising event, were also present with some of the managers of the home canvassing for the gracious support of the hotel and guests for the upkeep of the home and its wards.

For Loxley, it was a good way of giving back to the society and also its clients by creating such a wonderful and naturally appealing environment for people to get away from their daily hectic chores to unwind and network. Indeed, the opinion of the many golfers and guests were not any different as quite a number of them were delighted at the opportunity to play the course, especially for the first timer, interact and share savoury moment with a lot to eat and drink. A swell time, they say, it was for them.

It is the best golf resort in West Africa

The director of operations of the facilities, Campbell Elliot, who is from International Management Group (IMG), managers of the enclave, described it as “the only golf resort in West Africa, (not exactly) it has 18 holes golf course with over 500 residential units as well as a planned development for a sport centre and hotel.”

According to him, construction work at the site started in 2009 with the golf course opened for play in 2013. However, he informed that work on the other aspects of the massive project is expected to be concluded in about two years with the residential apartment welcoming its first guests in the first quarter of this year.

Elliot informed that the golf club is operated on membership basis with family, individual and corporate members and presently enjoys about 450 members and hoping to hit its 500 mark target this year.

According to him, about five or six tourneys are held yearly for its members with it welcoming golfers from across the country and elsewhere who delight in the golf course. Hopefully, he said the Southern Sun Ikoyi tournament would henceforth be a regular feature in the club’s calendar.

He described the event as a welcome development as it offered the members, the corporate world and hotel’s clients and patrons a rare opportunity to play golf, network and bash in the natural beauty and aesthetics of Lakowe, which they certainly would not get elsewhere.

For Elliot, the golf course is the best in the country, as he said that “this is better than any other course in Nigeria with good fairways, good tees and good greens and it is consistently playable.” Many of the golfers at the event also agreed with Elliot, describing their time on the course as very fulfilling and exciting.

It was a great day

One of the golfers, who is a banker and came with some of the bank’s foreign clients, described it as “a great day, the tournament is good, it is getting better every year. I brought a couple of clients out to entertain our clients and we found it is as a good time to spend with your clients.

“I played reasonably well and at the end of the day it was a good day and I had a lot of fun. The golf course is pretty good, I mean it is outside Lagos but it is relatively new but it is pretty good. It is well maintained and it is up to par and we had a lot of fun.

“It is a tournament by Southern Sun and it is an opportunity to entertain your clients. It is outside Lagos but it is worth your drive. We came in here early in the morning, and we have been here till about 4pm and then head back to Lagos.

“Actually, going forward we will support it and we find it an opportunity to entertain our clients and they clearly have had a good time today.”

It is a very good place for families

Demola Mumuney is the managing director of Stoirin Maritime Services Limited and captain of the golf club and one of the golfers at the event. He shares his thoughts on the event and the facilities among others:

“It was good and we had a very good round apart from the fact that it was quite hot. It is a pity that I missed the hole in one but generally very well organised.

“It is a good course and beautiful. It is a new course, it is just maturing and most of the fairways and the greens are superb and it is good for this kind of competition anyway.

“I am member here and also I play all the time and we kind of have an advantage over those that are not members but it didn’t work for me today but generally we enjoyed it, we enjoyed every bit of it.

“We don’t have many golf courses in Lagos, I think we have about six and this is about the newest of them. So, it is a good thing that we have this to add to the golfing facilities that already exist in Lagos.

“I was a captain in Ikoyi Club and that was about eight years ago, so I have a fair knowledge of how the place is when you compare it to this Lakowe golf course. It is a good concept and it helps in developing the game of golf as well because quite a number of facilities here, talking in terms of the fairways and the greens, they are up to international standards.

“This Lakowe has a good ambience. Lakowe is out of Lagos, so you are out of all those hassles and bustling you get in Lagos, most especially like Ikoyi. It is a very good place for families most especially golfing families to actually come and play and relax. We like it when we come here and you have a good game and you seat down and have a drink or two and you step back to the house.

“Part of what they have here are the houses that are being constructed, which are very good. It encourages people to come and buy and at the same time you play the game. It really exposes families and friends to entertainment, relaxation and exercise, which are what we need in Lagos or let me, say in Nigeria of today with all its bustling.

“Tourism is big business and this kind of facility contributes a lot to tourism in other countries. Nigeria could be a peculiar place because when we talk in terms of tourism you have to talk in terms of the facilities, security and all what not.

“Yes, if we have all such things, having this kind of facility of course will increase the level of tourism in Nigeria. It is something that should be encouraged. If we have more of this kind of courses and other things like I said that leads or assist in bringing up the level of tourism then this kind of facility is bound to contribute a lot to the tourism of the nation.

“Right now we have quite a number of foreigners coming to play here but most of them do work here and of course some of them bring their friends to have a round of game.”

..offers great opportunity to interact with the public

Rwanda Air was one of the corporate sponsors of the event. The country manager of the airline, Ibiyemi Odusi, speaks on the gains of attending the event.

“Everything is fine and we are glad to be here. There is enough visibility for our brand, Rwanda Air, and there is opportunity to interact with not only the golfers but also some members of the public to sell our brand. So, it is fun and everything is going on well here.

“This is our second time of supporting this event, the first time was okay and it is what necessitated this repeat patronage. We are hopeful that this will translate into figures and when I say figures I mean sales. A lot of contacts got here and we are hopeful that they will come and experience the brand because we have a very good product.

“It is an opportunity, a very good one for us to network, which is what we have been doing all morning. We can’t wait to have these people and welcome them on-board Rwanda Air.

“Our customer service and equipment is okay. Rwanda Air has a high safety record. On time performance is it for us because if we say we are departing 12noon it is 12noon and we have generous baggage allowance.

“It is great, it is a very good one and it is a giant stride. I was really surprised when I saw it (Lakowe golf resort). It is nice and we have people from all walks of life and not only restricted to Nigerians, different nationalities are here and diverse culture.

“The opportunities are there, if you see this place now it is very good, it is close to nature, the waters and the green grasses. It is good for tourism. It is actually a very good avenue for tourism.”