Nigerian Open

The Nigerian Open is (or was) a golf tournament in Nigeria. Founded in 1969, it was a Challenge Tour event between 1990 and 1993, having previously been part of what was known as the Safari Tour.

The Safari Tour can be traced back to the sixties, when British professionals escaped the northern European winter and taught at clubs throughout Africa. Many of the professionals also took their assistants with them to gain extra experience, and as the numbers involved in these tours increased, so events in the host countries evolved. The driving force behind the African events was Dai Rees, who would liaise with local sponsors and organisers on behalf of the professionals. By 1975 the size of the Safari Tour had become too much to administer, and so the European Tournament Players' Division (now known as European Tour) took over the representation of the professionals. As the European Tour began to expand its schedule globally, in 1991 the five Safari Tour events became part of the developmental Challenge Tour.

In 1981, England's Peter Tupling set the record low 72 hole score in professional tournament golf, when he won the title with a 29 under par total of 255.^[1] Notable past champions include major winners Vijay Singh and Sandy Lyle and former Ryder Cup player Gordon J. Brand.

Winners

This list of winners is incomplete.

Year in brackets indicates Challenge Tour season.

References