Road to the Karen Masters first leg winner Sabo Kalsi (left) and
KCB Bank Kenya Unit Head Public sector Mr. Musa Mohammed (right).

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Sabo Kalsi over the weekend displayed awesome skills to win the first leg of KCB “Road to the Masters’’ series at he Par 72 Sigona Golf Club.

Playing off handicap 20, the home golfer shot an impressive 41 points made up of 21 points in the first nine and 20 at the back nine, to beat a huge field of 204 players.

On his way up, Kalsi sank in two birdies on holes 2 and 10, parred holes 9 and 17 and bogeyed the rest.

“I bogeyed a number of holes but the few pars and birdies I made really helped me a lot. I am honored to have qualified to take part at the Pro-Am tournament. Thanks to the Masters Series for nurturing amateur golfers by giving us this opportunity to play alongside top Kenyan professional golfers with the Sunshine Tour golf series,” said Sabo.

In winning the opening round, Kalsi leads the first batch of six qualifiers to the two day KCB Karen Masters Pro-Am events slated for 25th-26th of June 2019.

Other qualifiers from Sigona were men winner Ishwar Aldasani (H24), guest winner Lee Mungai (H22), staff winner Ogola Azu (H26) who is also the KCB Bank Kenya HR Business partner and lady winner Milka Mburu playing off handicap 26.

The sixth qualifier from the Club was Jolly Esmail who becomes the first player in this year’s series to win the wildcard. The wildcard slot was decided from a lucky dip conducted on all the score cards returned by the playing field.

The KCB Karen Masters will be held after the two Pro-Ams from the 27th- 30th of June 2019.
KCB Bank Kenya Unit Head-Public Sector Mr. Musa Mohammed lauded the golfers for the huge turnout adding that: “KCB is committed towards the development of golf in the region. We wish all the qualifiers all the best in the Pro-Am of the KCB Karen Masters’ tournament later in the year.”

The next round of the Road to the Masters heads the Nyali Golf and Country Club on March 30.

The Nyali tour will feature professional players who will compete for a prize fund of Ksh 2million for the next four legs.

KCB Road to The Masters 2019:

Round 1- Sigona Golf Club ( February 25.)-Amateurs only

Round 2-Nyali Golf & Country Club (March 30)

Round 3 -Thika Sports Club ( Apri13)

Round 4-Nakuru Golf Club (May 11)

Round 5-  Royal Nairobi Golf Club (June 15 )

KCB Karen Masters -Karen Courtry Club (June 25-30)

Qualifiers from Sigona:
1. Overall Winner -Sabo Kalsi (Handicap 20)

2. Men’s Winner -Ishwar Aldasani (Handicap 24)

3. Lady winner – Milka Mburu (Handicap 26)

4. Guest Winner -Lee Mungai (Handicap 22)

5. Staff Winner- Azu Ogolla (handicap 26)

6. Jolly Esmail (wildcard)-picked from a lucky dip of score cards

KCB Group HR Director Paul Russo in a past KCB Road to the Masters series.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Anan Chandaria, Jimmy Merali and 15 year-old handicap 4 junior Adam Tayebjee are among the 220 amateur golfers lined up for the first round of the KCB Road To The Masters series which tees off at the Par 72 Sigona Golf Club course on Saturday  February 23.

Tayebjee is one of the promising talents from Sigona’s production line having completed a three-round total of 227 gross to claim the Windsor Junior Strokeplay Championship at par-72 Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club course last year. 

The Road To The Masters opener has attracted a sizable chunk of single handicapped golfers including Ronak Malde, currently playing off handicap 5. Malde will  grace the event which marks the start of the five-leg journey in the run to the third edition of KCB Karen Masters which will celebrate its second straight year as a Sunshine Tour sanctioned event.

Also in Sigona mix is Lady Captain Isabella De Souza who will be among those fighting for the ladies’ top prize and a qualifying slot at stake.

Sigona round will not feature professionals who will be engaged in the Windsor round of the Safari Tour golf series.

Sigona event will ascertain the first batch of six qualifiers to the Karen Masters Pro-Am which will curtain raise the Sunshine Tour event. The six qualifiers in each club will be the Men Winner, Lady Winner, Guest Winner, Staff Winner, Junior Winner and a Wild Card slot to be determined at the Club’s discretion.

Sigona resident Professional CJ Wangai who is also the Captain of Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) said the course condition is in splendid emerald state.

“The fairways are looking quite nice and greens really firm and fast, thanks to our automated irrigation system which has rendered them lush green. The Road to the Masters comes a week before Sigona Bowl which is traditionally held when the course is at its best,” said Wangai.

Among the staff golfers lined up for the Sigona showdown are KCB Group Human Resource Director Paul Russo, the Group’s Chief Finance Officer Lawrence Kimathi, Finance Director Samuel Munyua and Corporate Communications Manager Peter Mwaura who incidentally is the Golf captain at Ruiru Sports Club. Mwaura was one of the golfers who qualified for last year’s Karen Masters after winning the Limuru staff prize.  

KCB Marketing Director Angela Mwirigi said: “We appreciate the confidence the golfing fraternity has on our brand and we certainly see this as a long term partnership with mutual benefits both for the golfers in the region but for the Bank as well in terms of extending its reach across the country.”

The Prize money for the pros will be split into 60/40 for each leg.  The 60% will be prize money for the top 15 pro finishers and 40% will be set aside as a bonus amount for those who meet the set scores for the different courses.