From Left: Tournament Director Andy Watt, Karen Club Chairman Lawrence Kimathi, KCB Group COO Sam Makome and Angela Mwirigi KCB Group Marketing and Communications Director during the KCB Karen Masters Launch today.

By AMANDA DAMARIS

Close to 70 local and PGA professional golfers have signed up for the upcoming KCB Karen Masters, a first-of-its-kind tournament in Kenya that anchors KCB Bank’s golf sponsorship for this year.

KCB Bank today committed up to Ksh 30 million for the KCB Karen Masters, highlighting the lender’s continued resolve to support sports in the region. The move will also see the bank sponsor several tournaments and club nights in golf courses across the country.

The inaugural KCB Karen Masters golf tournament is scheduled to take place in March 17-19, 2017 at the Karen Country Club where 46 PGA Pros and 22 local pros will showcase what has made them world class professional golfers. Of these, 40 Pros are drawn from the European Challenge Tour.

Initially there was a section of local professional players who intended to boycott the competition due to limited slots for the home players, but the Professional Golfer of Kenya (PGK) quelled the issue saying they had no say in an invitational tournament and announced that 22 local pros would take part in the inaugural event.

Already three pros have qualified for the competition, two by virtue of making the cut during last year’s Kenya Open Golf Championships and one by virtue of being the best professional in the recent months.

The other 19 local pros will be picked from performances in the on going qualifiers for Kenya Open Golf Championships.

KCB said the intended strong field of golfers drawn from all over the world indicates that Kenya is featuring prominently on the global golfing map. “KCB will continue being at the center of supporting the growth of this sport. We believe in supporting great ideas that will enable the country’s progress,” said KCB Group Chief Operating Officer Samuel Makome.

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Kenyan professional golfer Greg Snow reacts during a past KCB Golf Tour event. The fate of the Tour is unclear as pros mule over boycotting KCB Masters.

By AMANDA DAMARIS

A storm is brewing ahead of tomorrow’s (Thursday) launch of KCB Karen Masters at the Karen Club as local professional players plan to boycott the action.
The locals who plan a joint meeting on Monday before they state their ultimate stand on the competition are not happy with the fact that only 20 local professionals intend to be invited to the Masters event, yet the number of foreigners to feature at the two-day event has been placed at 40.
Local pros feel that it would only be fair if the equation was the other way round, with 40 local professionals taking part in the competition and 20 foreigners being invited.
“ A lot of things are in the dark, so far we don’t even know the prize money for the competition, the format and word has it that only 20 of us will be allowed to play. We are this time going to speak in one voice and we may not honour the competition in solidarity,” said one of the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) leaders who sought anonymity.
He added: “It also seems like KCB has ended the Golf Tour which really supported the sport in the country, because since we put in a proposal to them in August about this year’s Tour, we are yet to receive any response. So between playing a Tour and a two-day competition full of foreigners, which between the two builds the sport?”
England golfer Robert Dinwiddie is expected to lead the 40 invited foreign pros for the Masters. Other golfers are drawn from Germany, Sweden, Italy, Portugal and England among other countries.
The KCB Karen Masters will be part of Karen Country Club 80 years celebrations. cheap air max cheap air max