Highs and lows of the golfing world in 2018

In what has become an annual end-year tradition, I look back at the highlights of the golfing year — both locally and globally. I have also taken time to point out what I considered, in my opinion, to be some low moments of the year. So, here we go :

The Kenya Open celebrates 50 years: The Kenya Open Golf Championship, the marquee golf event in this part of the world, celebrated its 50th year in March.

First played in 1967, as a relatively small unassuming event, the Kenya Open quickly became an integral part of an African circuit played across Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya and Ivory Coast.

In 1991 the event joined the European Challenge Tour and today the Kenya Open is arguably the leading international sporting event in Kenya.

In 2019 the championship will be played as part of the main European Tour, marking yet another milestone. As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, the Kenya Open Golf Ltd (KOGL) named 12 individuals to the newly created hall of fame for their significant contribution to the game of golf.

The inductees included former President Mwai Kibaki who is also the Patron of the Kenya Golf Union, former Central Bank of Kenya Governor and past Kenya Golf Union Patron Duncan Ndegwa, former KOGL chairmen Ngugi Kiuna, Sam Kamau and Richard Kemoli; current KOGL Chairman Peter Kanyago, and long serving KOGL Finance Director Joe Wangai.

Others feted included former Kenya Open Tournament directors Inder Talwar and Peter Coombes, veteran Kenyan amateur golfer and Kenya Open’s Most Successful amateur player David Farrar, former East African Breweries Ltd chairman Jeremiah Kiereini, and veteran golf journalist Larry Ngala.

The Kenya Open 2018 and the launch of the Safari Tour: The professional golf season started with the 2018 Barclays Kenya Open Golf Championship held at the Muthaiga Golf Club in March. Only two Kenyan pros made the CUT, Riz Charania who finished T69 and Mohit Mediratta, 71st. It was another disappointing year for our local pros on this big stage. Italian Lorenzo Gagli beat Sweden’s Jens Fahrbring in a playoff to win the championship, after they both tied at 11-under par.

In August 2018 KOGL launched a local golf tour, the Safari Tour, focused primarily on improving the standards of professional golf and giving our best amateurs a platform on which to cut their teeth.

The Safari Tour was launched at the Nyali Golf and Country Club and David Wakhu won the first event. In September the Tour moved to Vet Lab Sports Club where Greg Snow beat Dismas Indiza in a play-off.

At the Limuru Country Club in October, Kiambu amateur golfer Michael Karanga upstaged the pros to win that edition of the Tour. Snow was the best placed pro. In November, the Tour was put on hold to give way for the Malawi Open where Dismas Indiza finished second.

The Tour moved to Thika in December and Snow continued to dominate with Indiza a close second.

The Uganda Open and the Karen Masters: The 2018 Uganda Open was held at the Entebbe Golf Club in September and Kenya’s Indiza went on to win his fifth title at the event.

With a prize kitty of $50,000 (Sh5.1 million) the Uganda Open attracted professional golfers from southern and eastern Africa. The event has continued to grow and it is set to be part of global tours in future. The second edition of the Karen Masters was played in July at the Karen Country Club.

This event, now a full member of the Sunshine Tour, offered a total prize kitty of $150,000 (Sh15.3 million) with the winner, Michael Palmer, banking $22,075 (Sh2.2 million).

Indiza was the top ranked Kenyan, T33, Simon Ngige finished T44, Mohit Mediratta T55 and Rizwan Charania T62.

The amateur scene — Victoria Cup and Region Four Championships: The Kenya Golf Union successfully hosted two international events this year.

The first was Victoria Cup, a test match between Kenya and Uganda staged in July at the Vet Lab Sports Club. Kenya’s amateur team beat Uganda to win for the third consecutive time.

The Victoria Cup trophy was donated by Moses Tanui, a world marathon legend. The second international was the Region Four Championship held at Nyali Golf and Country Club in August.

The event included amateur teams from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, the Seychelles, DR Congo and hosts Kenya. The Ugandan team won the event, Rwanda finished second and Kenya were third.

One of the differences on the local and regional golf scenes in 2018 was the emergence of professional events, thanks to the Safari Tour, the Karen Masters, the much-improved Uganda Open, and even the Malawi Open. And across in West Africa, the 10-part West Africa Golf Tour is growing in leaps and bounds. All these developments in pro golf will bear fruit in the mid-term, giving local professionals a brighter future.

Across the world the 2018 golfing year will probably be remembered for the return of Tiger Woods. The 14-time major champion returned to the winners’ podium at the Tour Championship, his first win in five years, and moved from position 656 to 14 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Could he return to World Number One in 2019? Perhaps win a Major?

He came close at Bay Hill, a venue where he has won eight times before, and led the Open Championship at Carnoustie with nine holes to go; he played at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine and finally on the last week of the PGA Tour season he won.

This was his 80th victory on the PGA Tour. At the 2018 Ryder Cup, Le Golf National in France, Woods didn’t play well. The American team was no match for the charged Europeans.

Europe’s Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari were red-hot as was Sergio Garcia. There was talk of animosity in Team USA’s locker room with Patrick Reed accusing his captain of wrong pairing and Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson apparently had a near fist fight. Its fair to say the next Ryder Cup on American soil will be interesting.

The Major winners in 2018 included Patrick Reed at the Masters, Brooks Koepka at the US Open and the PGA Championship, and Francesco Molinari at the Open Championship. Great year for Molinari all round.

As we march into 2019 there are a few important things. First, the Kenya Open will be played as part of the main European Tour on March 14 to 17 at the Karen Country Club. Professionals can look forward to a full Safari Tour season that is likely to include events in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

The Karen Masters is likely to up its prize money and so is the Uganda Open and there are talks of a big pro event in Nyali. Exciting times ahead in 2019.

To all our readers, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.