Bako is five shots behind Ghana's Vincent Torgah as they go into day two of the three-day tournament.
Nigeria's number-one ranked professional golfer, Kamalu Bako, Thursday made a slow start on the opening day of the Professional Development Golf (PGD) Tour managed by Meristem Securities.
Bako, who is outside of the top 10 on the leaderboard will have to pay catch-up as he is five shots adrift of the joint leaders on the first day of action at the Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estates in Lagos
At the end of the opening day of action, four players registered 69, three under par to set the tone for a thrilling weekend of action.
Ikoyi Club 1938's duo of Sunday Olapade and Francis Epe kept the charge from the home front while Kouame Richard from Ivory Coast and Vincent Torgah from Ghana joined in sharing the spotlight of the opening day.
Femi Olagbenro, Golf Manager at the host club said the performance of the players frankly described the quest for regular playing time by the professionals.
"The scores today are encouraging and fully speak to the need for active playing time by the professionals. The PGD Tour will complement whatever other stakeholders have on the plate for professional golf development and I am confident the scores will even get better." He said.
In the fifth place, two shots off the four first-round leaders are Friday Akpodiette, while Gift Willy, Enoch Owusu, Mohammed Kabir Haruna, Francis Christopher, and Abubakar Mustapha are tied in the sixth place will level par score on the Lakowe Golf Course.
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Other top players lurking close to the leaders ahead of the second-round play include former Nigeria number one player, Nojeem Sofela, Liman Mohammed, Chukwudi Okoro, and Paul Patrick, who all shot 73, one over par.
The Meristem Open has a prize purse of N10, 000, 000 and would be decided over three days at the Championship course of Lakowe Lakes Golf Club in Lagos, running from 26 January to 28 January 2023.
In all, 87 professional golfers teed off Thursday at the Meristem Open, the inaugural event of the Professional Golfers Development Tour.
Adefemi Taiwo, Meristem's Head of Brand and Corporate Communication, said she hopes this will be the beginning of a new era in professional golf development in Nigeria that would spread across the continent.
"We would love to galvanize support for the immense talents that we have seen in professional golf. And given also different high points from the professional standpoint, a lot can be achieved for the betterment of all stakeholders." She said.
