KAREN HOSTS BARCLAYS GOLF CIRCUIT FINALE
Kellie Gachaga reacts during the final Barclays Golf Circuit qualifier at Muthaiga Golf Club a fortnight ago. She will be among the players at the Grand Finale at Karen on Saturday.
By CORRESPONDENT
AFTER seven months of top golf action that went through a total of 14 clubs country wide, the second edition of the Barclays Golf Circuit reaches its climax tomorrow (Saturday) with it’s Grand Finale at the par 70 Karen Golf and Country Club.
At stake is a fully paid golfing tour on the expansive golf courses in South Africa for the overall winner, while the top 20 players will get slots to play at this year’s Barclays Kenya Open Golf Pro Am competition slated for early next month at the same venue.
According to tournament organisers Event Africa, tomorrow’s finale will bring together at least 200 players both qualifiers and guests, making the event a must watch as everyone will be eager to have a share of the goodies on offer.
Courtesy of Barclays hospitality, the top 20 players will also get season tickets and VIP guest passes to the Barclays Hospitality tent at the Barclays Kenya Open Golf championship set to run between March 6 and 9.
The series which teed off on July 27 last year at the Limuru Golf and Country Club visited 14 clubs including Eldoret, Nakuru, Machakos, Thika, Nyanza, Sigona, Nyali, Windsor, Royal, Karen, Vet Lab and Muthaiga before the finale and brought together participants of all clubs, with a minimum of nine qualifiers from each leg.
Vet Lab’s John D’Souza playing off handicap 24 posted the best score in the series, amassing 44 stableford points, but he should expect a tough round at the finale as he will be playing against the best of the best.
Some of the players expected to spice up the event will be junior players Mutahi Kibugu and Kellie Gachaga who stunned seasoned golfers at the final qualifying round held at Muthaiga a fortnight ago.
According to the green keeper at Karen Club, Ken Ndedda, players should expect a challenging course as it has been prepared to championship standards in readiness of the Kenya Open event.
“We have made a couple of changes on the course. On the par four hole 12 and par five hole 18 we have added water features and players will now have to play the ball over the water to reach the green,” said Ndedda.
He added: “On the par five hole 15, we have cut a trench about 150 yards to the green, which will also make life difficult for the players, but generally the course conditions are perfect and challenging.”
Ndedda said they had narrowed the fairway according European Tour recommendations and noted that the rough had grass of about 2.5 inches and warned players to avoid the rough.
“ The greens are good without any patches but are picking up speeds of between 6 and 7.5. We have been cutting the fairway twice and it now has grass half an inch long,” Ndedda said. nike air max trainers nike air max trainers