By DANIELLA APIYO

It’s all systems go as The 2017 Barclays Kenya Open tees off tomorrow at the Muthaiga Golf Club. The field of 156 golfers includes – 22 local professionals, 6 elite Kenyan amateur golfers and over 100 professional golfers from the European Challenge Tour.

Thika’s Simon Ngige will get the ball rolling at 7am from the first tee, he will be in the company of Italy’s Federico Maccario and England’s Peter Tarver-Jones. Nyali’s golf club junior protégé Agil Is Haq will tee off at 720am and he is expected to draw a big crowd as he battles the elements at the Muthaiga Golf Club.

The Muthaiga resident golf professional, Nelson Mudanyi will be off at 730am followed by Brian Njoroge at 740am. It will exciting to see how these two talented Kenyan golfers will play.

On form Greg Snow tees off at 8am in the company of Northern Ireland’s Cormac Sharvin and England’s Paul Maddy. Snow finished top at the Jamii Telkom PGK Masters at the Sigona Golf Club and he was the best placed Kenyan at the recently concluded Karen Masters where he finished fourth. Snow has played the Muthaiga course for nearly two decades and is expected to play well.

Kenya’s top amateur golfer, John Karichu will tee off at 810am, Richard Ainley is off at 9am and the long-hitting Dismas Indiza is off at 1240pm. Indiza is the in the company of Spain’s Borja Virto who has considerable exposure on the 2016 main European Tour.

Jacob Okello, the 1998 sensation, is off at 1250pm, one group behind Indiza – this will be two good matches to follow at Muthaiga.

The Barclays Kenya Open Defending Champion Sebastian Soderberg is off at 750am on the first tee whilst the Gary Boyd the 2009 Champion is off at 130pm. Boyd won the Barclays Kenya Open at Muthaiga, he will be looking to repeat that magic.

The 2014 Barclays Kenya Open champion South African Jake Roos tees off a 740am, the 2013 champion Spain’s Jordi Garcia Pinto tees off at 1230pm, the 2010 champion Englishman Robert Dinwiddie tees off at 1220pm and the 1999 Kenya Open champion, Netherland’s Maarten Lafeber is off at 840am.

 

“I am very confident of the 22 local professionals that qualified to play at the Kenya Open. We had 2 training clinics for them late last year conducted by European professionals and we are looking forward to great results this year,” said Kenya Open Golf Limited chairman Peter Kanyago said.

“Overall we have a quality field of players this year, with 4 past winners of the Kenya Open set to play including Sebastien Soderberg who won the title last year, others are Jake Roos, Robert Dinwiddie and Gary Boyd.” Mr. Kanyago added.

The Kenyan players were selected after 3 qualifying rounds staged at the Vetlab, Sigona and Muthaiga golf clubs between December 2016 and February 2017.

As part of their preparations, the 150 professionals will take part in one of two Pro-Am events to be held on 21^st and 22^nd March at the Muthaiga Golf Club.

It was also announced that Nairobi Governor, Dr. Evans Kidero has promised cash rewards to the Kenyan Professionals.

The overall winner at the Kenya Open, if Kenyan, will receive a 1 Million shilling cash reward from Dr. Kidero, if a Kenyan finishes within the top 5 slots, they will receive a KES. 500,000 reward, while any Kenyan who makes the cut for the final rounds will walk away with a KES. 50,000 cash reward.

These incentives are on top of the tournament’s 220,000 Euros (KES. 25 Million) prize money.

Spectators at this year’s event have been assured of great entertainment for the whole family at the village area.

“Spectators can expect lots of food, drink and entertainment for the whole family at the village area, we will also have screens and a scoreboard for those who will want to keep up with play.”

There will be ample parking space at the adjacent Kenya Forest Service Parking, with shuttles ferrying fans to and from the Muthaiga Golf club. The Organizers have engaged the NYS, National Police and G4S to ensure that the premises are secured throughout the tournament.

Tickets to the Kenya open are available for purchase on ticketsasa.com and at the Muthaiga Golf club for 500 shillings for the daily ticket and 1000 for the season ticket.

Kenyan Professionals to Play at 2017 Barclays Kenya Open:

1. Greg Snow
2. Mathew Omondi
3. Jacob Okello
4. David Wakhu
5. C.J. Wangai
6. N. M. Ngugi
7. David Odhiambo
8. Nicholas Rokoine
9. Justus Madoyo
10. Kopan Timbe
11. Boniface Simwa
12. Nelson Simwa
13. Riz Charania
14. David Opati
15. Nelson Mudanyi
16. J. W. Karanja
17. Tony Omuli
18. Richard Ainley

19. Dimas Indiza

20. Brian Njoroge

21. Simon Ngige

22. Stefan Andersen

Kenyan Amateurs at The Open:

1. Agil Is Haq – Nyali Golf Club (Leading Junior golfer)
2. Alfred Nandwa – Kenya Railway golf club (Amateur Strokeplay champion 2016 winner)
3. Sujan Shah – Sigona Golf Club (Kenya Amateur Matchplayer winner 2016)
4. Kenneth Bollo – Royal Nairobi Golf Club (GOTY 2016 Winner)
5. Jeff Kubwa – Muthaiga Golf Club (GOTY Runner-up 2016 winner)
6. John Karichu – Limuru Country.

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