Kenya Open golf Limited Chairman Peter Kanyago (left) and Jeremy Awori, the Managing Director at Barclays Bank of Kenya during the launch of the tournament.

By DANIELLA APIYO

Barclays Bank of Kenya and the Kenya Open Golf Limited has announced that the much anticipated, 48th edition of the Barclays Kenya Open will take place between the 9th and 12th of April at the Karen Country Club. The four-day event tees off with two Pro-Am events at the Karen Country Club sponsored by Barclays Bank and Coca Cola.

There will be 156 players consisting of both local amateurs and professional. This year’s prize money for the championship is €200,000 ( Ksh. 20M ) with the winner receiving €32,000. This money is raised mostly from the local corporate base. Prior to the international tourney, the club will host two ProAm events on 7^th and 8^th.

Kenya will be relying on Richard Ainley, Dimas Indiza, Greg Snow and John Karichu among other top players to lead the team’s challenge for the top spot.

“Our goal is to make this tournament prestigious enough to attract top flight golfers from all over the world. To achieve this, we will have to continually invest in our infrastructure and player development and I am therefore glad to note that tournaments such as the Barclays Golf Circuit are providing our players with a platform to practice their swing year round ahead of big tournaments such as BKO,” said Mr. Kanyago.

Title sponsors, Barclays Bank are now in their 5th of year sponsorship, out of which, 4 have been as lead sponsors. The bank has invested more than Kshs.85 million on both the Pro Am tournament and the Barclays Golf Circuit which is now in its 3rd year. The series is a seven month tournament which provides Kenyan golfers with an opportunity to develop their game ahead of big tournaments such as BKO.

This year’s Barclays Golf Circuit ends in March and by the time it comes to a conclusion, more than 2800 amateur and professional players from 35 clubs countrywide will have taken part, making it the largest golf tourney in the country. The next leg is scheduled for 28^th February 2015 at the Muthaiga Golf Club, prior to the Grand Finale at the end of March. Over 100 junior golfers have expressed interest in competing for a slot at the Golf Circuit finals ahead of the Kenya Open.

“In the last five years we have witnessed a tremendous growth in the sport both in the caliber of players and number of people taking an interest in the sport. Growing interest among the youth is a clear indication that golf has a great future in Kenya,” said Mr. Jeremy Awori, Managing Director Barclays bank of Kenya.

“In fact, we are expecting more than 100 junior golfers to participate in the penultimate leg of the Barclays Golf Series at the Muthaiga Country Club on the 28th of February.”

“We therefore intend to continue supporting the growth of the sport in Kenya by partnering with relevant stakeholders such as the KGU and the Kenya Open Golf Limited to identify areas of collaboration that will help us achieve this goal,” he added.

In the 2014 edition of the Barclays Kenya Open, South Africa’s Jake Roos claimed his European Challenge Tour victory after an intensely dramatic finale. Kenya’s Dismas Indiza and Greg Snow were the best-placed local players, finishing 5th and 6th overall, respectively. cheap nike air max 90 uk cheap nike air max 90 uk

Dismas Indiza lines his putt at a past tournament.

By DANIELLA APIYO

Dismas Indiza of Kenya played 3 over par 75 in pre-qualifying round of Johannesburg Open which folded its curtains in the South African capital today.
Speaking on phone from Glendower Golf Club in Johannesburg, Indiza admitted candidly that he played badly on the par 72 course.
“To be very honest, the course was in awesome condition but play didn’t just favour me at all. The game plan was to play 2 under which would have placed me in a favourable position for qualification but my swings didn’t come out as expected,” said Indiza who alongside CJ Wangai and David Wakhu are the three pro golfers Kenya Commercial Bank sponsored for the event also doubling up as a round of the European Tour.
Kenya entered six golfers in yesterday’s pre-qualifiers of the prestigious Jo’Burg Open whose event proper starts on Thursday through to Sunday. Kenyan brigade is spurred on by the presence of two South Africa based youngsters Stefan Engell Andersen and Nelson Mudanyi formerly of Muthaiga Golf Club. Others are CJ Wangai, Wakhu and John Chege.
By the time of going to press, the cut-off score hadn’t been determined but Zambian Dayn More was basking in the lead with a superb round of 4 under par 68.
Projection of the cut-off mark however seemed to suggest that Kenyans would fall by the wayside at the end of it all.
CJ Wangai was among the last Kenya golfers to tee off. He was yet to complete play as we went to press. A total of 110 golfers were entered for the pre qualifiers with the biggest chuck being home players and a few from Nigeria, USA and Zambia. Indiza was the first Kenyan to tee-off at 7.30am local time (8.30 Kenyan time).
Kenya’s Wakhu had an equally bad outing with a round of 9 over par whilst Andersen played 5 over.
Another Kenyan John Chege play 8 over par 80 which wasn’t good enough to secure a place in the Open.
Four Kenyans played in the previous weekend’s Dimensional Tour down south and were all eliminated at pre qualifying stage.
During the George pre-qualifier tournament, Indiza missed a slot to the main event by a mere shot, Wangai by 8 shots and Wakhu by 9 shots.
Joburg Open is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and PGA European Tour as an official Order of Merit event.
The prize money is 1.3 million euros and this will be shared amongst all the players who will make the cut.
Indiza who is attached to Mumias Golf Club, Royal’s Wakhu and CJ Wangai of Sigona landed the Sunshine Tour sponsorship after topping the KCB Golf Tour Order of Merit last year.
During last year’s Order of Merit, Indiza retained the top accolade followed by Wakhu on 48.5 points. Wakhu picked up 15 points in the Grand Finale at Nyali while Sigona’s John Wangai wrapped up the 2014 Order of Merit in third place with a total of 46.5 points.
This year, KCB Golf has lived up to its promise to sponsor Kenyans in the South African series, a gesture intended to help golfers further their golfing skills and above all brush shoulders with the cream of the continent’s best. cheap nike air max 97 cheap nike air max 97