Bipin Gathani during 2010 Dasani Gala at Karen Golf and Country Club. The club will be hosting the Ketepa Golf Day on Saturday.

By CORRESPONDENT

The annual Ketepa Golf Day takes place at the premium Karen Country Club tomorrow. With over 200 golfers expected to participate in what has grown to become one of the top golf events in Kenya, competition at Karen will be severe.

Announcing their 2012 committement to golf, the KETEPA CEO, Tim Chege said their focus in 2012 was on their Maisha water brand and their Iced Tea range of products.

“KETEPA is obviously famous for tea, but in sports we focus mainly on the Iced Tea products and our Maisha water,” Chege said. “This year, we will be at Karen, Kericho and a few other clubs throughout the country; we will announce those venues and dates soon.”

Among the golfers expected to participate at Karen is the long hitting duo of Guto Mogere and Anthony Gacheru, whose performance in 2012 has been good.

“I have had the chance to watch these young men play and their golf game off the tee is exceptional,” Chege added. “If they can harness their skills around the green, sharpen their putting and chipping skills, they will grow to be some of the best amateur golfers in this country.”

The sponsor, Tim Chege will tee off at 1pm in the company of Francis Mwanzia, Kanyi Gachoka and William Maara whilst KTDA Chairman Peter Kanyago will play in the company of Jimmy Kimondo, Dennis Awori and Ken Mungai.

The Muthaiga Open tees off today and will run through the weekend. The players to watch will be the elite squad of junior golfers from the Nyali Golf and Country Club  who will be in Nairobi under the stewardship of Taufiq Balala and Alice Wahome.

The young men will include, Mathew and Jeremy Wahome, the 14 and 16-year old brothers playing off handicaps of nine and seven respectively. Adil Balala, a strong 10-handicap golfer at the age of 13-years, John Mburu, 15-years, six-handicap, Agil Sihag, 13-handicap, 10-years, Gael Ntore, 17-years and five handicap.

The long hitting Daniel Nduva plays of handicap-five and is 16 years old and Tahir Mohammed, 14-years, is playing off a handicap of 10. The junior golf program at Nyali has been producing the best amateur golfers in East Africa and their entry into the Muthaiga Open will go a long way in assisting the young players hone their skills.

The Tusker Malt Golf Carnival takes a break this weekend and will resume next weekend at the Karen Country Club. pandora joyeria pandora joyeria

PRESENTATION: PGK chairman Charan Thethy receives the Pro Am cheque from Kenya Airways Sponsorships Promotions Manager in charge of Africa and rest of world, Georgina Ndawa as KGU chairman Mwaniki Gachoka looks on.

By DISMAS ONYANGO

The par 72 Windsor Golf and Country Club will from Wednesday morning play host to a total of 30 local professionals at the inaugural Kenya Airways Pro Am, expected to act as a curtain raiser to the Kenya Airways Golf Safari Grand Finale set to be held at the same venue on Saturday.

The professionals will be fighting for a lucrative prize money of Sh850, 000 from sponsors Kenya Airways and are expected to use the tournament as part of their preparation for the annual Kenya Open Golf Championships to be held at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club between March 29 and April 1.

“I would like to thank Kenya Airways for bringing the professional golfers body on board and we hope it will from now be a series of events for the pros and not a one off. A total of 30 pros will participate in the 72-hole event starting tomorrow (today) morning and on Friday each pro will be playing alongside three amateurs,” said Charan Thethy, the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) chairman, when he received a sponsorship cheque of Sh1 million from Kenya Airways Sponsorships Promotions Manager in charge of Africa and rest of world, Georgina Ndawa.

Charania said with about five weeks remaining before the Kenya Open Championships, the event would act as a platform for the local golfers who have never won the prestigious title which part of the PGA Tour.

Ndawa said Saturday’s Grand Finale will attract at 50 foreign players from different countries where the tournament visited. This year the Safari which was initially sponsored to a tune of Sh15 million, witnessed a total of 35 rounds and visited a number of countries including Bangkok, Thailand and Guanzhou, China, where the flight goes to. In Africa the Safari was played in Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote D’Ivore, Senegal, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Sechelles, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.

“We have invited all winners from all the countries that we held our events and locally all the top seven from each round qualified for the grand finale and we expect a very mouth watering finale,” said Ndawa. canada goose kinder canada goose kinder