PAY US MORE, LOCAL PRO GOLFERS URGE SAFARI TOUR ORGANISERS AS THEY RAISE OTHER CONCERNS AS WELL

Kenya Golf Guide

Local pro golfers Greg Snow (centre) with Robinson Owiti (left)and Mathew Omondi (right) during a recent Safari Golf Tour action.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) members taking part in the ongoing 2020 Safari Tour series which serves as the qualifier to the Magical Kenya Open European Tour have written to the event organisers on a number of concerns pertaining the ongoing tour.

PGK claim their efforts to be involved in the tour have fallen on deaf ears. A verbal request, by the PGK board, to co-own and co-run the tour at inception is said to have been blatantly rejected.

Among the issues the professional body is seeking to be addressed are prize money, which they are terming low adding that despite initial information that they would be playing for Sh 10 million they are only getting Sh 1 million. The pros are proposing a prize kitty of Sh 3 million for local events and Sh 5 million for those outside the country.

” A prize money of Sh1 million is extremely low and to make matters worse the scoring caveat of -3 or better which constitutes 30 percent of the prize money makes most of the money payable Sh 700,000. This means the logistical expenses are Sh1.5 million per event which is highly unlikely. This prize money is not viable for pros. A player who makes the cut gets as low as Sh 5,000 which is not even close to the money they have put in to play in the tour,” reads the petition in part.

Additionally, the body is proposing a minimum of 15 events per year and the last pro to make cut in any event be paid a minimum of Sh 40,000. Their proposals also add that they should not be required to pay any membership or entry fees for the events.

The body has called for better course preparations and proper markings to make rulings fair, easy and non-controversial.

“Over the last two years of events the course set up has been at times bordering on illegal and done without the consultation or involvement of any PGK member or any Safari Tour player.  The conditions do not even meet the standards of professional play. Proper yardage markings should be done for all courses that are hosting an event,” the letter addressed to the organising committee continues.

The golfers have underscored the importance of player representation at the Safari Tour Sub Committee.

Others issues include professionals and amateurs of NO standing being allowed to compete contrary to earlier agreements, harsh rulings by referees and a tedious registration process for events. The pros also want other PGK sanctioned and run events to count towards Kenya Open qualification.

“Additionally, it has been noted with great concern, and dispite the PGK board pointing out severally, the number of spots available for Kenyan pros to play in the Kenya Open are very few and that no representative from PGK is involved in the negotiation process leading to an unfair allocation for Kenyan Pros. We would like make it very clear that there should be a minimum of 25 Kenyan professionals competing in the Kenya Open,” the letter adds.

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