Kenya golfers to gain big from European Tours

The Kenya Open Golf Championship has officially joined the European Tour, one of the two biggest professional golf tours in the world, the other being the US PGA. Following this announcement, the 2019 edition of the Kenya Open will be played as a full member and integral part of the European Tour and as part of the prestigious Race to Dubai series. The Karen Country Club will host the 2019 event from 14 to 17 March 2019 and the total prize kitty will be €1.1m (Sh126 million).

What does this mean for Kenya? According to the Kenya Open Golf Ltd (KOGL) Chairman, Peter Kanyago, joining the European Tour will have far-reaching effects for various stakeholders.

“To begin with, the Kenya Open will now attract a higher calibre of professional golfers, indeed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Trevor Immelman, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Reed, Ernie Els, Francesco Molinari and many other top global players who are members of the Tour,” he said.

“And whilst we may not attract all the top players in our initial years, we are confident that in time Kenyans will get to see these top golfers ply their trade right here in our country.”

As a member of the European Tour, the Kenya Open will be aired live to over 490 homes across the world giving Kenya’s golf tourism offering priceless publicity.

“The European Tour Production team will come to Kenya, film and air the Kenya Open and send that signal to several broadcasters across the world. And for that one week, the eyes of the world’s golfing fraternity will be firmly on our beautiful country,” Kanyago added.

“The European Tour gives Kenya an excellent platform to market the country as a whole but more specifically to market the country as a superior golf tourism destination. This is a key benefit of joining the European Tour, perhaps the most significant benefit, and I am confident that we will see our nation’s brand as a golf tourism destination grow.”

The Kenya Open joins a prestigious list of events including the Joburg Open, BMW South Africa Open, Tshwane Open and Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, the Trophee Hassan II in Rabat and prestigious events such as the Open Championship, the BMW PGA Championship, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the final event of the European Tour – the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

To prepare local and regional golf professionals for the European Tour, KOGL also announced the establishment of the Safari Tour, a regional professional golf tour which aims to improve the standards of professional golf in the region.

“To prepare our local players to cope with the demands of the European Tour, and in line with our strategic objectives, I am delighted to announce that the Kenya Open Golf Limited is launching the Safari Tour – a national wide golf series featuring four-rounds of golf over a period of four days with a prize kitty of Ksh1 million per event,” he said.

“Each Safari Tour leg will feature a PRO-AM event where host club members will have the opportunity to play alongside the golf professionals. The Tour will also include community outreach programs (including tree planting) and golf development engagements that include golf clinics for school children and juniors in the neighborhood and club members.”

The first event on the Safari Tour kicks off tomorrow at the Nyali Golf and Country Club and will include over 40 golf professionals and over 100 amateurs at the Pro-Am event. The Pros will play four rounds of golf from Sunday 19th Aug to Wednesday 22nd Aug 2018. Top elite amateurs and junior players drawn from across the country will be invited to play alongside the professionals.

The series will then move to Vet Lab Sports Club from the 1st to the 5th of September, to the Limuru Country Club from the 27th to the 31st of October, Thika Greens Golf Club from the 10th to the 14th of November, Karen Country Club from the 15th to the 19th of December and Muthaiga Golf Club from the 12th to the 16th of January.

A final closing event of the Tour will be played in February 2019 ahead of the Kenya Open.