DASANI BOOSTS KENYA OPEN TO A TUNE OF SH3 MILLION
WORTHY CAUSE: Coca-Cola’s General Manager-East Africa franchise Peter Njonjo hands over the cheque to KOGL chairman Peter Kanyago as KOGL director Kathleen Kihanya and KGU Vice Chairman Alfred Kariuki looks on.
By DISMAS INDIZA
Next week’s Kenya Open Golf Championships received a shot on the arm after soft drinks manufacturer Coca Cola, through its bottled water brand, Dasani sponsored the tournament to a tune of Sh3 million.
While presenting the sponsorship cheque, Coca-Cola’s General Manager-East Africa franchise Peter Njonjo said: “We are happy to come on board as the official water sponsor of the tournament yet again and through this journey we have been able to see the profile of tournament grow and due to this growth, we have been able to even increase our sponsorship, up from last year’s Sh1.5 million to this
year’s Sh3 million.”
He added: “Dasani targets confident, hopeful people who have a strong desire to realize their potential and choose their own path. The same can be said of the Barclays Kenya Open, a tournament that sees competitors step on the golf course, with the desire to excel, by claiming the top prize, not only at this tournament, but at the overall completion of the European Challenge Tour, of which this tournament is part of.”
Meanwhile, entries for the Kenya Open closed yesterday as the organized bowed to pressure to increase the number of local professionals in the tournament to 23 from 20. Initially, the organizers had only reserved 20 slots for the local professionals and it will be good news for some of the top local pros
who missed the initial 20-man list that was named two weeks ago.
“Entries have now closed for the Barclays Kenya Open Golf tournament and the full complement of 156 players has been filled. Kenya will have 23 professionals participating and for the first time in the
championships history, we will be holding two Pro-ams. One sponsored by Barclays Bank will be held at Muthaiga Golf Club and the other one sponsored by Kenya Airways in partnership with Boeing Dreamliner will be held at the Karen Country Club both events on Wednesday,” said Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) chairman Peter Kanyago.
Five winners from last year’s Challenge Tour events including reigning champion Michiel Bothma has confirmed participation. According to Kanyago, a total of 26 countries will be represented at the four
rounds championships, the highest number in the history of Kenya Open.
He said preparations for the tournament were complete, noting that the course was in good condition with well kept greens and tees.
“Though there are no rains, the greens and tees have been well maintained with the rest of the course getting minimum watering to conserve the water for the greens. This still has the course in excellent condition for the Open,” said Kanyago. michael kors handtasche michael kors handtasche