Today’s Cheque presentation

By DANIELLA APIYO

Safaricom today announced a Ksh 5 million sponsorship for the 3^rd Edition of Karen Masters Tournament scheduled to take place from 27^th to 30^th June 2019.

As the official digital communication infrastructure sponsor, the amount will cater for a fully kitted media Centre, internet connectivity to; the Players’ Cyber Café, Tournament Office, Score Recorders Office and Event Management Office for the duration of the 4 day golf tournament. The sponsorship will also be used to support the junior golfers’ shootout.

“We are happy to be part of the third edition of Karen Masters’ Tournament and have noted that this year’s event is fully sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour. I believe that our contribution to last year’s event made it a success and set the stage for the extended partnership,” said Jannet Atika, Director – Customer Operations, Safaricom.

Karen Country Club have partnered with the Sunshine Tour in South Africa to bring around 100 of their top-ranking players to Karen next month to compete against 32 of Kenya’s finest, as well as players from other African countries, to give a field of 152 professional players and 4 amateurs.

“We are excited to have Safaricom on board for the third year running, especially because they will focus on the junior shoot out competition on Saturday. This is an important avenue for our young golfers to mingle and mix with the pros and learn from them as they work on their journey to dominate the sport in future,” said Andy Watt, Tournament Director, Karen Masters.

Defending Champion Michael Palmer is expected to defend his title and will be joined by nine of the top ten Sunshine Tour players; Daniel Van Tonder (1st), JC Ritchie (2nd), Callum Mowat (3rd), Garrick Higgo (5th), Martin Rohwer (6th), Thriston Lawrence (7th), Neil Schietekat (8th), Jacques Blaauw (9th) and Steve Surry (10th). The Kenyan charge will be led by Dismas Indiza, Greg Snow, Simon Ngige, CJ Wangai, Riz Charania and Mohit Mediratta.

The 2019 Karen Masters will offer a prize kitty of KES 15 million, making it one of the most lucrative tournaments on the Sunshine Tour.

C J WANGAI

By AMANDA DAMARIS

CJ Wangai, winner of the four leg Road To Masters series, is putting final touches to his preparations ahead of this week’s KCB Karen Masters.

After a three day rest, Wangai was back to the competition venue at the par 72 Karen Country Club brimming with confidence.

“After the conclusion of the Road To Karen Masters recently at Royal Nairobi we have been trying to feel the greens and fairways of Karen Country Club. Most local pros have practiced there and we are looking to this week’s Sunshine Tour action with great expectations, My swing is closer to where I want it to be. My strength has always been in the tee shots but again you really have to keep the ball on the fairways and enjoy a great short game at the end of each round,” said Wangai who is also the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK)  Captain .

And having already taken some impressive scalps recently, Wangai a fomer admin at Railways and currently the resident professional at Sigona Golf Club sounded quite enthusiastic when asked about his game plan this week: “The game plan is simple,  to capitalize on as many birdies as possible, some eagles which will definitely be few and far between,  putt well and stay on the fairwairs by avoiding the thick  roughs as much as I can. The current rains have seen the course at Karen revert to its pristine condition but landing on the thick roughs won’t be the best of options when you come to think of drop shots.  My plan this week is to make the cut and go for a top 10. Playing in Safari Tour and Road To Karen Masters has been quite inspiring and beneficial,  we can only hope for the best this week.”

The third edition of the KCB Karen Masters tees off on Thursday preceded by a Pro-Am. The first two rounds on Thursday and Friday will be used to determine the tournament cut,  while the next two from Saturday will ascertain the winner of the blue jacket.