The 2011 Kenya Amateur matchplay championships to be held in Limuru from June 24-26, 2011will be a World Amateur Golf ranking  (WAGR) event.

This is the first event in Kenya to have attained such a status ever. Played on the par 71 lush and scenic Limuru golf course, the event has annually attracted top amateur in Kenya.

This announcement was made by Andy Macdonald of the R&A, at the 116th Amateur championships in Stockport.  In addition, the Kenya Amateur Strokeplay championships will also be a WAGR event.

This year the event is scheduled to be held in October at Thika Sports Club.

Commenting on this new development, the newly elected KGU Chairman, Mwaniki Gachoka said “this ranking is a confirmation of the confidence that R&A has with the management and standards of golf in Kenya. The number of golfers has increased and the golf courses have seen immense improvement. KGU will continue to spur the growth of golf in the country with a view of producing stars just like in other sports disciplines in the country.”

The World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) is now widely recognised as the benchmark for elite golfers.
Introduced from 1 January 2007 by the R&A, the World Amateur Golfing Ranking (WAGR) System ranks the top amateur golfers in the world on the basis of their average performance in counting events.  It covers 1800 tournaments worldwide over a rolling cycle for the previous 52 weeks for 5,100 golfers.

Kenya has only one ranked player, Stefan Engell Andersen who is playing in the Amateur Championships, the
first Kenyan in 40 years.