Urhiapele – this used to be the original name of Sapele, the little town that used to be the nerve centre of commerce in the old Bendel State and, to a very large extent, in today’s South South region.
In those early years, Sapele was known for two major things. The illicit gin, known in local parlance as ógogoro’ or ‘Sapele Water’ that was produced in excess in the town and the extra shallow River Ethiope that envelopes it. Sapele in itself lies within 30 minutes’ drive from Benin City and a mere 15 minutes’ drive from the port city of Warri.
Because of the shallowness of the Ethiope River, the ships of those British firms that were trading in lucrative merchandise like palm oil, gum, ginger, cam wood, pepper, arrowroot, ivory, palm nuts, rubber, timber and beeswax preferred berthing in the town. This was enough reason for the British merchants that formed the Royal Niger Trading Company to converge on Sapele for its nearness to the Ethiope and those goods they were trading in.
Foremost among the shipping lines that made Sapele home was the Elder Dempster Shipping Lines which had been around since the mid-1800s. Within this period, the area presently accommodating the Sapele Athletic Club was mainly built for the game of Cricket. It was the man, who later bought over the Dempster Shipping Lines, Sir Owen Phillips, that in later years veered into golfing and utilised a larger portion of the Cricket ground for the construction of a nine-hole course. The actual period he designed the course was not recorded. It was presumed to be around 1890 to 1897.
But what was on record was this scenario.
On a warm morning in 1913, 12 golfers gathered at the edge of River Ethiope. They were used to doing this to kill time while waiting for their Europe-bound merchandise.
But on this day, they were waiting for another purpose. They were about to compete in the first Elder Dempster Golf tournament. Way before day broke, Sir Owen Phillips, who charted the course, had walked round it to see if things were in shape. The course was indeed in great shape. Of great note is the putting area where Sir Phillips mixed waste oil from the docking ships and white sands from the shore to construct. The men practised on the course through the week. Among them were Alexander Miller and his brother George, John Holt, whose company is still well known in Nigeria, and a couple new explorers from the Gold Coast Pool formed in 1905.
The men were all prepared for the Elder Dempster
Tournament which was meant to bring together merchants from Europe. Aside this, the new owners of the Dempster Shipping Lines, headed by Sir Phillips, and which ferried over 90 percent of goods from the Oil Rivers to the United Kingdom, wanted to use the tournament to show that nothing had changed since the takeover from original owner, Sir Aired Lewis Jones, who died on December 13, 1909.
The tournament itself was over-subscribed. Some 25 extra players showed up, most of them from Escravos through the then Warri-Sapele Road that was just completed. At this point, none of the Nigerian associates of the Europeans featured in this ‘strange sport’. They, along with a handful of youths, volunteered to act as Caddies without charging any fees.
Records of this first golf tournament in 1913, years after the course had been laid out, are still intact. This indeed prompted the Delta State government, to which Sapele town belongs, to celebrate a centenary of the Sapele Golf Club in 2013, all in a bold bid to preserve the facility for its place in history.
According to a former captain of the Sapele Golf Club, the story of Elder Dempster Tournament in 1913 is one that speaks volumes about the entire history of the club, especially as no golf club in the country can boast of similar authentic history.
Utiome said: “We have the trophy presented at the 1913 Elder Dempster event as our proof of being the oldest golf club in Nigeria. Besides, the cricket tracks that make up the other part of what is known as Sapele Athletic Club are still there. The proof we don’t have is if another tourney had happened before that of 1913. But logic prevails that something close to that must have happened. All we know is that the course must have been well used before 1913.”
