Heritage

Coast is the place to be for weekend golf action

golf

The 18-hole Baobab Course at Vipingo Ridge is easily one of the top golf courses in Africa. FILE PHOTO | NMG

During this long Mashujaa Day weekend, the best golf action will be at the Coast. If you haven’t booked your Madaraka Express ticket, well, it might be a bit too late now, but try anyway – you need to be at the Coast to watch or participate in some of the best golf you will see this last quarter of the year.

By the way, for those asking, yes you can carry your golf clubs on the Madaraka Express, and unlike the airlines you don’t pay extra for your clubs.

The Coast is home to some of Kenya’s top golf courses and resorts. To the North, in Kilifi, sits the 18-hole Baobab Course at Vipingo Ridge. I have often argued that this is not only the top golf course in East and Central Africa but also one of the best in Africa.

Additionally, the Vipingo Ridge visionaries planned and executed golf course living brilliantly, setting a pace unlikely to be matched by the various other golf-living developments across Kenya.

In Mombasa’s North Coast sits the magnificent 18-hole course at the Nyali Golf and Country Club, a challenging golf course but one that is kinder to the older folk due to its mainly flat terrain.

Kenya’s only link golf course, Mombasa Golf Club, the Front Course, as it is popularly known, is the only course on Mombasa island. This nine-hole course is as tough as nails with the only consolation being the views offered by the Likoni Channel and the Florida Night Club!

The South Coast is home to the Leisure Golf Club, an 18-hole championship golf course that is home to the annual Diani Beach Masters. It is at Leisure that our golf professionals are plying their trade this week at the 2017 Diani Beach Masters sponsored by Prime Bank. The four-round 72-hole Professional event teed off on Wednesday , October 18 and will run to Saturday, October 21; at stake a total prize kitty of Sh1 million. Pros from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and hosts Kenya are in Leisure competing for a share of the prize money.

Amateur golfers taking part in the 2017 Diani Beach Masters have been invited to play two rounds today and tomorrow. The Diani Beach Masters was first played in 1998 and was for a long time popularly sponsored by the Kenya Airways. Winners are awarded the DBM Green Jacket.

Whilst the Pros take the Leisure course, Kenya’s top elite amateur golfers will be at Nyali for the 2017 Kenya Amateur StrokePlay Championship, the most prestigious amateur event on the Kenya Golf Union calendar and one that guarantees the winner an automatic slot in the next year’s Kenya Open Golf Championship. This event is a World Amateur Golf Ranking event with winners earning points towards their global ranking.

Entry into this gruelling three-day 72-hole event has been restricted to single handicap golfers. Among the favourite players is Cape Town-based Mathew Wahome and Johannesburg-based Daniel Nduva who have both jetted back to specifically participate in this championship.

Both these young men will enjoy home ground advantage and my money is on them to win this event.

The elite amateurs will play their first round today before playing 36-holes tomorrow and the final round on Sunday. My only advice to them is to stay hydrated in the coastal heat.

And now for you the weekend golfer here is my recommendation; firstly you could choose to watch the Pros at Leisure and join them for a single round tomorrow. Secondly, you could choose to simply watch either the Pros at Leisure or the top elite amateurs at Nyali – you are truly spoilt for choice.

Alternatively, you could drive to Vipingo today and participate in their club night at only Sh2,000, great value for money or you can play in the DStv Explora series at the Front Course today. I am told there will be an all white party afterwards, plenty to drink and dance. I will buy a Kanzu!

So if you are in the Coast this Mashujaa Day weekend, then you are truly spoilt for choice, so much golf to play and so much to watch. I will be attempting to play at all the courses and watch as much action as possible.

PS: There is yet another golf course at the Coast, the 9-hole course at Malindi. I must confess I am not sure what is going on there, but if you are in Malindi, that course is always good value for money.