The vice president and minister of Women's Affairs, Aja Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, Tuesday presented a cash amount of US$10,000 to The Gambia's leading golf player, Fabakary Drammeh alias Tiger Woods, on behalf of the Gambian leader, at a presentation ceremony held at State House.

The amount represents the winner's prize for the just concluded 2010 Gambia Open Pro Championship. Drammeh emerged tops at the five-day tourney held at the Fajara Golf Club in Bakau, beating golfers from Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sweden and the UK.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Ebrima Jawara, the president of the Gambia Golf Association, on behalf of the association, extended greetings to the Gambian leader, his family and Cabinet ministers. Jawara acknowledged that this is not the first time President Jammeh is donating such a huge sum of money to the golf association, recalling that some years back he [President Jammeh] personally sponsored the Gambian golfer's trip to the US.

He further recalled that the Gambian leader sponsored the 2004 Gambia Open, and disclosed that with regards to this year's tournament they wrote to him (President Jammeh) to be the chief patron, as they were not expecting any sort of donation from him. He told the gathering they were surprised that the president sponsored the first prize with a sum of US$10,000. He said: "This is by far the biggest ever sum of money staged in The Gambia and in the sub-region. The tournament was attended by many professional [golfers], seven from Sierra Leone, 14 pros from Senegal as well as 20 amateurs from Senegal. In total we had over 30 foreign players, making it the biggest ever tourney in the history of golf in The Gambia."

The Golf Association prezy hailed the Gambian leader for accepting to be the chief patron of the competition and for the generous gesture, assuring that next year they will be better organised to link it with the 2011 tourism season in a bid to attract more tourist players. He expressed optimism that this is just the beginning and hoped it will grow from strength to strength.

Modou Drammeh, a legal practitioner and secretary general of the Gambia Golf Association, expressed similar sentiments. He thanked the Gambian leader for his foresight adding that the tournament went successfully. He then challenged Gambians to play and contribute to the development of golf in the country. "Golf is a sport that people of different ages can play and it goes hand-in-hand with tourism which can contribute significantly towards the economy of the country," he posited.

Presenting the cash, VP Njie-Saidy said the Gambian leader contributes to the development of all sort of sports of which golf is no exception. She thanked President Jammeh for contributing to all development programmes in the country and beyond while encouraging the private sector to invest in golf particularly the tourism sector. "Golf can attract tourism and high spenders and most of these people are wealthy people who want to spend part of their holidays golfing," she said.

The vice president assured the Gambia Golf Association of government's continuous support at all times in a bid to develop all the sports in the country. She also thanked them for a job well done in attracting a significant number of participants from the sub-region and beyond to the tournament. 

Abdoulie Kah, the deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youths and Sports, who chaired the ceremony, also praised the Gambian leader for the generous support.

The occasion was graced by senior government officials and members of The Gambia Golf Association.