Heritage

KQ Golf Safari series kicks off at Railway Club

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Terry Kung’u in action during the Kenya Airways Golf Safari tournament at Muthuiga Golf Club in 2011. FILE PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

This weekend, we are on a golf safari.

The Kenya Airways Golf Safari is back. And that is only half the news; with 15 local events on the calendar and another 13 across Africa and Asia, the 2014/15 KQ Golf Safari is bound to become the most talked about golf series on the African continent.

The first event on the KQ Golf Safari will take place Saturday at the challenging Railway Golf Club in Nairobi and over the next few weeks the championship will move to the Limuru Country Club, the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club, Nyeri Club, Nyali Golf Hotel and Country Club, Eldoret Golf Club, Nyanza Club and the Thika Sports Club in late December.

The Tema Golf Club in Ghana will host the KQ Golf Safari on November 8, the famous Royal Harare Golf Club will be the venue a week later and the Shek O Golf and Country Club in Hong Kong will host on November 18.

The Safari will move to China and to the Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou on November 26. Our Naija brothers will get its taste on December 6 at the Ikoyi Golf Club and on December 13 at the IBB Golf Club in Abuja. The Gymkhana Golf Club in Dar es Salaam will play host on December 6.

According to Kenya Airways, the championship is designed to promote Kenya as a top golf tourism destination.

With more than 35 golf clubs across the country, reasonable green fees, a tourist friendly exchange rate, all-year-round golfing weather, adequate hotel bed space and regular flights to Europe and Asia, Kenya is poised to tap into the $2 billion a year golf tourism market.

According to the International Association of Golf Travel Operators (IAGTO) an estimated 80 million golfers worldwide play on close to 40,000 courses across the planet. Golf events are said to be worth close to $2 billion a year, and the golf tourism market something more than $1 billion.

In 2015, the KQ Golf Safari will kick off with a packed back to back January to February calendar that will include Vet Lab Sports Club, Kiambu Golf Club, Nakuru Golf Club, Muthaiga Golf Club, Sigona Golf Club, Karen Country Club and the Royal Nairobi Golf Club.

Across our borders, it will visit Uganda Golf Club in Kampala on the January 17, the Riverdale CC in Thailand the week after and the Reef Golf Club in Seychelles on January 31. Pecanwood Golf Club in SA and Lusaka Golf Club will wind up the tour of Africa.

The series will conclude with a grand finale on the 26th of March, 2015 at a venue to be decided.

See you at Railway Golf Club Saturday.