Heritage

Another great weekend of golf beckons at Karen

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Karen Country Club chairman Lawrence Kiambi in action at the 2nd edition of the KCB Karen Masters at the Karen Country Club. PHOTO | COURTESY

Ladies and Gentlemen brace yourselves; it is the KCB Karen Masters weekend. If you are a chairman, general manager or captain of a golf or country club in the East and Central Africa region – get a notebook and pen, get ready to take lessons, plenty will be served at Karen.

If you are new to golf, buy a ticket and go watch some young golf “mechanics’ at work, visit the village too, plenty to enjoy there — take in the sights and sounds of Kenya’s top golf and country club. If you are a golfer, forget about playing golf this weekend, head on down to Karen and watch some of the world’s best ply their trade on a golf course in pristine tiptop condition.

The second edition of the Karen Masters, now a Sunshine Tour sanctioned tournament, teed off yesterday at the Karen Country Club with a full field of 156 golfers. The field includes four Kenyan amateur golfers led by arguably the best elite Kenyan amateur Nyali’s Daniel Nduva, the young and promising Mutahi Kibugu from Muthaiga, Limuru’s John Karichu and Vet Lab’s Edwin Mudanyi.

According to the Karen Country Club Chairman, Lawrence Kiambi, the KCB Karen Masters provides a unique platform to both the best Kenyan amateurs and professionals to build on their golfing skills.

“When we first envisaged staging the KCB Karen Masters, our goal was to build a platform that would serve a few purposes. The first of those was to give our Kenyan professionals and top elite amateurs an opportunity to compete in a world class event, organised with the players in mind and to give them the opportunity to compete against the world’s best players,” he said.

“ I believe in this second year, we have achieved that. This week, and through the weekend, our pros and those from the East African region will play in an event that is no different in all aspects to the best ones across the globe.”

Commenting on the impact of the event on Kenya’s brand, Kiambi added that the effect of sports in the promotion of tourism, trade and investment are well documented. “Sporting events play a huge role in building country brands and the impact of the KCB Karen Masters goes beyond golf, it goes to tourism and to trade.

This week, over 150 players and officials have travelled to Kenya because of this event, booking hotels and spending dollars in travel, food and leisure. At the same time, this event is being publicised locally, in South Africa, across our continent and the world – turning the attention of the globes 60 million golf tourists to our country Kenya,” he commented.

“As this event continues to grow, we will not only grow the sectors around golf, we will have played our part as a club in the promotion of our country brand as a preferred golf tourism destination.”

This second edition of the KCB Karen Masters marks the first time the Sunshine Tour is venturing into Kenya, a feat that was made possible by the collaboration between Karen Country Club and KCB as the title sponsors.

“The Sunshine Tour organisers have been keen to come to Kenya and after the inaugural KCB Karen Masters in 2017, we agreed to work together,” Kiambi added. “KCB on their part have been committed to the promotion of sports in this region and they have been engaged in athletics, rugby, football, motorsports, chess and golf. Sponsorships decisions at KCB are led by strategy and an assessment of positive impact on the communities in which the bank works. KCB also considers sponsorships that favour youth empowerment through sports.”

The Sunshine Tour affiliation means that over 100 Sunshine Tour players will be in the country this week and they will be joined by an East African contingent of 36 Kenyan Pros, seven Ugandans, Isaac Wanyeche from Tanzania, Jules Dusabe from Rwanda and Haile Ghebreeghziabher from Ethiopia. Nigeria is represented by Andrew Odoh and Sunday Olapade. Other countries represented at Karen include Senegal, Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, the USA and several European countries.

“The huge representation from across Africa is testimony of our willingness as a club to support golf not just in Kenya and in East Africa, but across our continent and to give as many of our neighbours the opportunity to come to the Karen Country Club and experience a truly world class event put together by a dedicated and passionate team.”

As you read this, the second round will be under way at Karen and only the top 60 players (plus ties) will proceed to play in the weekend and compete for a share of the Sh15m total prize fund.

All the best to the East African players and well done to the well-oiled machine at the Karen Country Club that continues to put on a great show year after year with military precision.