By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

The Kenya Open Golf Limited, organizers of the 2020 Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship, presented by Absa, have announced that preparations for the tournament are complete.

The tournament, which will be played under the prestigious European tour for the second year running, is set for March 12 to, at the Karen Country club.

The announcement was made by the Kenya Open Golf Limited Chairman, Peter Kanyago, during a press briefing held at the Karen Country Club today.

“We are nine days to the tournament, which will be hosted here at the Karen Country Club, from the 12^th – 15^th of March 2020, under the European tour. Preparations for this year’s tournament are complete and we are looking forward to four days of great golf.”

While making the announcement, Kanyago also noted that the tournament’s prize fund will remain at Ksh 125 million (1.1 Million Euros); with the overall winner banking around Ksh 20.5 million (Euros 183,330).

“Like last year, the total prize fund for the 2020 Magical Kenya Open will be 1.1 Million Euros. This has been made possible by our sponsors, led by the Government of Kenya through the ministries of Sports and Tourism.”

Speaking at the same event, tournament director, Patrick Obath, mentioned that there has been increased interest from the European tour players to play at the tournament, having received over 200 entries.

“The field this year will remain at 144 players, we have however seen a significant increase in interest from the European Tour players, to come play at the Magical Kenya Open, with over 200 entries received.”

Among the star attractions at this year’s tournament, include the last five winners, namely; Guido Migliozzi (2019), Lorenzo Gagli (2018), Aaron Rai (2017), Sebastian Soderberg (2016) and Haydn Porteous (2015).

Others expected to headline the tournament include Chris Wood, winner of the 2016 BMW PGA Championship; Justin Harding, winner of the 2019 Qatar Masters; Ashun Wu, winner of the 2018 KLM Open; Alexander Levy, five-time European Tour champion; Shubhankar Sharma, winner of the 2018 Maybank Championship; and Haoton Li, winner of the 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

The Kenyan charge will be led by hard hitting Dismas Indiza and Thika Golf Club’s Simon Ngige who are part of the eight Kenyan professionals who qualified through the just concluded 2019/20 Safari Tour Golf Series.

Five names of Kenyan elite amateurs, who were selected by the Kenya Golf Union to play at this year’s Magical Kenya Open have also been released. These are: Samuel Njoroge, Daniel Nduva, Paul Muchangi, Taimur Malik and Mutahi Kabungu. They will be joined by Victor Joseph of Tanzania who has been invited to play.

Apart from the local Professionals, Robinson Chinhoi of Zimbabwe and Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh, were the two regional players who qualified to play at the Magical Kenya Open through the 2019/2020 edition of the Safari Tour. KOGL has also extended invitations to two South African players, Toto Thimba (winner of the 2019 Karen Masters) and Jayden Schaper, to come and play at this year’s tournament.

In addition to the world class golf, Obath assured golf fans of entertainment at the tournament village.

“We have once again partnered with the Kenya Breweries Limited, through its Johnnie Walker Brand to ensure that fans enjoy great entertainment, while following the action live at the village.”

Kanyago concluded by welcoming fans to the Karen Country Club, while thanking the tournament sponsors for their continued support.

“I want to thank our sponsors, Absa Bank PLC, Kenya Breweries Limited, The Standard Group, Coca Cola, Hemingways and The Waterfront Mall for their continued support. Finally, I welcome you all to the Karen Country Club from the 12^th to 15^th of March, for world class golf and hospitality at the 2020 Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa.”

Tickets to the tournament are available on www.kenyaopen.golf at Ksh. 1000 for a daily ticket and Ksh 3000 for a season ticket.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2020 at 5:49 PM and is filed under Golf News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.