(Right to Left) Kenya Open Golf Limited Chairman, Peter Kanyago, Kenya Open Golf Championship Tournament Director, Patrick Obath, and European Tour Tournament Director Paul Carrigill, during an inspection of Karen Club today.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

The Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) has exuded confidence that it is set to host this year’s Kenya Open Golf Championship, with final preparations in top gear in readiness for Eastern Africa’s biggest golf tournament.

The Kenya Open, which this year will be held at the Karen Country Club from the 14^th to the 17^th of March, will be joining the prestigious European Tour – in a move that will significantly raise the profile of the tournament while enhancing Kenya’s golf tourism proposition.

Speaking during a course inspection by European Tour officials at the Karen Country Club today, KOGL Chairman, Peter Kanyago, said that the board is pleased with the progress it has made in preparing for this year’s tournament and that it is looking forward to host East Africa’s biggest golf tournament.

“We are pleased with the progress which we have made to prepare for his year’s Kenya Open whose preparations are currently in top gear. The course is in excellent condition, and from our assessment, it is actually ready for play as we speak. Together with the Karen Country Club, we continue to improve the it in readiness for the tournament,” he said.

He added that the Board is now in the final stages of finalizing sponsorship deals with partners with official communication on the same expected to be made next week.

“We shall be announcing our sponsorship details next week but, largely, we have finalized on our sponsorship engagements,” he said.

Speaking about the changes to be expected at this year’s Kenya Open, Kenya Open Golf Championship Tournament Director, Patrick Obath, said the Karen Country Club course layout will be re-arranged to accommodate the demands of the tournament from both a players’ and spectators’ perspective.

“The key change that is going to be there at the Kenya Open is that the course at Karen is going to be played in a different way to allow more room for spectators movement as well as the sitting infrastructure that is going to be set up. This means that Karen Country Club’s current 13^th hole will be the first tee. Players will then play the 14^th through the 18^th holes, then go back to the 10^th, 11^th and the 12^th for the first nine. They will then cross over to the first tee and play it the normal way. This means that the first nine will effectively become the back nine and vice versa,” he said.

Other changes set to be made for this year’s tournament include human flow improvement, with players and spectators having to go through the village before accessing the rest of the club.

“We have done quite a lot of work to prepare for this year’s tournament, including having the European Tour agronomist coming over to ensure that the course is at par with European Tour standards. We are therefore confident that we are ready to hold the tournament,” he added.

Commenting on the same, European Tour Tournament Director, Paul Carrigill, said that he was satisfied with the preparations that the Kenya Open Golf Limited has embarked on in preparation for this year’s tournament.

“The Kenya Open Golf Limited has improved the tournament over the last five or six years markedly, and now we have raised our level to the main tour of the European Tour so we will have better players playing. We have had a change of venue this year coming to the Karen Country Club and the course is in wonderful condition already, so everything is progressing well,” he said.

Paul added that with the tournament’s new status, the Kenya Open will have live broadcast which will significantly profile the tournament, and the country, on a global platform.

“We have national and international television this year live on all the four tournament days and that will make a massive difference and a great advert for Kenya. Kenya will be seen on the TV screen and the beautiful scenes here at the Karen Country Club will be passed around the world for everyone to see with the tournament being watched across the world by millions of viewers,” he said.

Total prize money for this year’s tournament will be Euros 1.1 Million; a move expected to attract the interest of top golfers from around the world.

Greg Snow poses with the Safari Tour trophy after winning the Muthaiga leg of the golf series by a 15-stroke gap.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow kept his impressive form going at his home club, to claim his third title, and his fourth top prize money win, of the 2018/19 Safari Tour golf series season.

Snow, who had played an impressive round of 7-under par in round 3, started the final round in decent form hitting par in the opening two holes before dropping shots at the Par-4 3rd and par-4 9th. He however managed a lone birdie on the first nine at the Par-5 7th for a total of 36. Check out sports betting sites in kenya if you are interested in wagering on your favorite player

He then followed it up with an impressive back nine score of 34, with birdies at the Par-4 14th and Par-5 18th, to return a score of one under par 70 for the round, taking his total to an impressive 13-under par 271, 15 strokes ahead of the duo of Dismas Indiza and Riz Charania who were tied for second place. With this score, Snow became the first player in the Safari Tour to return scores of under par in all the four rounds played.

Speaking after the win, Greg credited his work on his shot game as the key to the success, “After Thika, I noticed that my shot game was a bit off, so I put some bit of work on it and I am glad to see the results. The hot conditions over the past five days made the greens a bit faster but I managed to keep up and I am pleased with my overall performance.”

“I’ll have a few days of rest before getting back to work ahead of the last leg in Karen.” He added.

Snow extended his overall lead on the Road to the 2019 Kenya Open ranking to 95.5 points; having picked up maximum points over the last four Safari Tour events. For his efforts, Snow took home KES 450,000 following the tripling of the Prize Money as a result of a boost in sponsorship from both Johnnie Walker and Barclays Bank of Kenya.

Greg Snow poses with the Safari Tour trophy after winning the Muthaiga leg of the golf series by a 15-stroke lead.

Mumias-based Dismas Indiza, returned an impressive score of 2-under par 69, the best of the fourth round, to see him finish the tournament with a total of 2-over par 286, tied for second with Riz Charania. Simon Ngige at 4-over par 288 and David Wakhu at 6-over par 290, rounded up the top five positions at Muthaiga.

Meanwhile, Edwin Mudanyi was crowned the Amateur winner, after returning a decent score of 14-over par 298, to place him 14th on the overall log. Speaking on his performance over the four days of competition, Mudanyi was happy with the exposure the tournament gave him.

“It has been a great experience playing with the pros, my overall performance has given me great confidence and will go a long way in further preparing me to become a professional.”

While congratulating the winners, Kenya Open Golf Championship tournament director Mr. Patrick Obath, was impressed by the improving standards of play witnessed during the tour and expressed his confidence in Kenyan Professionals performing well at the Kenya Open.

“We have seen a steady improvement in the standards of play during the tour, today Greg Snow became the first golfer in the series to return scores of under par through out the four rounds of play. It is performances like these that make us confident of great performances by our pros at the upcoming Kenya Open.”

Speaking on the future of the Safari Tour, Mr. Obath revealed plans of including regional tournament’s in this year’s edition of the series, “This year we are looking at including regional tournaments in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi to the Safari Tour, this will ensure that we grow the sport of Golf around the region.”

Safari tour action resumes next month with the last leg set to be played at the Karen Country Club from the 16th to the 20th of February, ahead of the Kenya Open in March at the same venue.