Dismas Indiza

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Kenya’s finest golfers Dismas Indiza, CJ Wangai, Simon Ngige and Greg Snow are the only local professionals lined up for the Pro-Am of KCB Karen Masters which tees off tomorrow.

The Pro-Am will curtain raise the third edition of the 72-hole strokeplay Sunshine Tour sanctioned event programmed for Thursday through to Sunday.

Each of the 36 pros entered for the Pro-Am will be accompanied by three amateurs.

The youngest player in tomorrow’s draw is 13 year-old handicap 5 Andrew Wahome who will tee it up with South African pro Garrick Higgo, Azu Ogolla of KCB and Irene Kimeu.

CJ Wangai, the resident pro at Sigona, has the company of Nyali’s Road To The Masters winner Joyce Masai, Sebo Kalsi and Gathuri Wanjau. They will tee off from the first tee at 8:00am.

Quite a big chunk of Sunshine Tour pros will also be in action.  Among them are Karen Masters defending champion Michael Palmer and Merrick Bremner who is being sponsored by Betway.

Bremner is no stranger to the par 72 Karen course  where he lost the blue jacket to Palmer last year.

Palmer will be with amateurs Anthony Murage and James Githinji and will tee-off from the tenth tee at 1.30pm. Merrick, on the other hand, will be with Purity Muthoni,  Tom Karanja and Fernando Wangila also starting from the 10th tee.

KCB has invited partners including Standard Group, Johnnie Walker and Coca Cola to enhance the experience at the event for the thousands of golf fans expected to grace the event.

Entry at the event will be Kshs 1500 for a season ticket and 500 daily.

KBL Head of Spirits AnnJoy Muhoro (L) signs a ceremonial cheque as Karen Country Club’s Ali Mohammed looks on, during the Karen Masters sponsorship unveil.

By AMANDA DAMARIS

Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL), through its Johnnie Walker brand, has today announced a KSh 28 million sponsorship towards the 2019 edition of the KCB Karen Masters Golf Championship.

The tournament will take place starting Thursday 27^th to Sunday 30^th of June 2019 at Karen Country Club; bringing together 152 golfers who include 47 local and regional professionals, four Kenyan amateurs and 100 Sunshine Tour players.

Speaking during the cheque handover ceremony, KBL Head of Spirits AnnJoy Muhoro, noted the significance of the Karen Masters and its emergence as an international golf extravaganza.

“At KBL, we are always delighted to partner with international events such as the Karen Masters, which is part of the Sunshine Tour. The tournament offers us a perfect platform to support the sport of golf in the country as well as connect with our consumers.” she said.

As part of its sponsorship offering, KBL, through the Johnnie Walker brand will host golf fans at the tournament’s village throughout the tournament.

AnnJoy lauded the tournament’s organizers, for the consistent growth of the tournament, to now become the richest tournament in the Sunshine Tour.

“I would like to congratulate the Karen Country Club on the tournament’s consistent growth, to now become the richest event on the Sunshine Tour. We have planned for fantastic golf during the day, followed by world class entertainment in the evening, courtesy of Johnnie Walker,” she added.

This will include music concerts on Friday and Saturday featuring renowned stars from Kenya and around the continent such a Nyashinski, Naiboi and Heavy-K.

Their highly-anticipated performances will be backed up by top DJs’ performances over the duration of the tournament.

Speaking at the same event, Ali Mohammed of the Karen Country Club, expressed delight at having KBL on board for the Tournament.

“This year we are happy to once again welcome the Kenya Breweries Limited, through the Johnnie Walker brand, as the official alcoholic beverage partner.” He said.

Ali concluded by urging fans to come out in large numbers to enjoy four days of great golf.

“I want to urge all Kenyans to turn up in large numbers to support our local golfers and enjoy four days of great golf.”

Daily and seasonal tickets are currently on sale at www.ticketsasa.com for Ksh. 500 and Ksh. 1500, respectively.