Nyanza Golf Club's chairman Daniel Ajulu follow's his tee at a recent tournament at the nine-hole club. He will be part of the ICEA golf action this weekend.

By DISMAS ONYANGO

ICEA LION Group will begin its country wide golf series at the par 70 Nyanza golf club this coming weekend. The recently merged group, which comprises ICEA LION General Insurance Company Ltd (previously Lion of Kenya Insurance Company Ltd) and ICEA LION Life Assurance Company Ltd (previously Insurance Company of East Africa Ltd), will be sponsoring the series in various parts of the country and Nyanza will be its first stop.
Charles Aburi, who won last weekend’s NIC golf series, has promised to work hard and retain the winner’s slot but says he is aware that there will be competition from other qualified golfers.
“Am happy that I won the NIC series and I am sure that I am going to retain the title. But this will depend on the way I work hard to defend the title” Aburi said.
The Kisii based golfer beat a field of 76 golfers drawn from Nandi, Mumias, Kakamega, Nyanza, Muthaiga and Railway golf clubs and managed a total of 39 Stableford points.
Last year’s winner Maurice Otieno has also promised to give a strong defense and plans to overthrow Aburi from the title. Another prolific golfer Rana Sultan who came in fourth has also promised to use all at his disposal to win the tournament and clinch the ICEA LION Group title.
“It is going to be a tough tournament putting in mind that top golfers will be drawn from across the country. It is a great initiative from the ICEA LION Group and I would love to urge them to spread their wings as we seek to make golf a national sport” Rana said.
ICEA LION Group plans to spread the tournament throughout the year and will sponsor golf tournaments in major towns in Kenya.
Their major focus is to build relationships with all stakeholders in these regions of the country to create more awareness about their non-life and life products to enhance their uptake.
“We plan to spread our golf series to all parts of the country as this will enable us reach as many clients as possible and at the same time help the game of golf grow through our CSR” Steven Oluoch, CEO of ICEA LION General Insurance, said.

Nyanza Club new Chairman Mr Daniel Ajulu thanked ICEA Lion Group for choosing the Club as their first stop and asked thme to continue working with them saying Nyanza was a friendly club.
“We are proud that ICEA LION group choose Kisumu and Nyanza Golf Club as their first host in their on-going series tournament, we as the club are happy to host them and extend our heartfelt joy in choosing us ” Ajulu said.
Hilly Osodo the new Captain said that Nyanza was happy of the gesture and asked other coporate companies to also sponsor golf tournaments through their CSR programmes.
“We are happy of the gesture extended to us by the ICEA LION Group and our only plea is for other coporate companies to join them in sponsoring the games of golf and especially at the Nyanza Club” Osodo said. nike air max hombre nike air max hombre

Engineer Tom Waiharo follows his tee in a past NIC Bank Golf tournament. Limuru will host the bank's latest action on Saturday.

By KGC CORRESPONDENT

Thirty miles North West of Nairobi city center lies the 18- hole course, Limuru Country club which is set to host the second leg of the NIC 2012 Golf Series scheduled this Saturday, May 12, 2012.

Surrounded by the extensive tea plantations and captivating rolling farmlands, the par 71 course is set for a full field of two hundred golfers to battle out in the second edition of the annual series. In Limuru, NIC Bank has included some of their partners, especially motor vehicle dealers. Their partner Isuzu will donate a Captiva vehicle for a hole in one.

The Limuru Country Club captain Lucas Maranga says that the course is in great shape after the rains and golfers will play long as the fairways are extremely soft. “The greens are in very good shape with six new greens,  the old greens have been worked on therefore golfers should not be too worried,” Captain Maranga added.

He however cautioned the golfers against expecting an easy time. “With the new fast greens and wet thick roughs, it may not be as easy as one may think,” he said. Recalling last year’s NIC Limuru tournament, the captain proudly asserts he came in second, “I cannot forget how great last year was, NIC staff, NIC guests and members had a very good time,” he added. “The annual visit is quite helpful as Limuru Warriors are NIC customers,” added captain Maranga.

First tee off is at 7:30 a.m. with the last tee off at 2:00 p.m. and the format remains Stable ford which will feature low and high handicappers. The 2011 champion, Abeid Gatimu is looking forward to defending his title. “Was a handicap–22 golfer last year but I am currently playing off handicap-17, therefore I am quite sure of my excellent performance in the NIC Bank Golf Series,” Gatimu says.

Limuru Captain was the Runner up, he hopes to also clench the title. The immediate past captain, Ken Chege was third. Commenting on the same, Chege says that NIC Bank Golf days are quite popular in Limuru. The hospitality they display on the 19th hole is excellent as well as the great golf prizes.”

The NIC team will be led by the Group Managing Director, Mr. James Macharia. In June, the series moves to Thika and Mombasa. joyas de pandora joyas de pandora