Ruiru Captain Jesse Ndegwa (right) and former Ruiru Club chairman Peter Mwaura during a recent event.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

KCB Bank has today announced its sponsorship of the 2023 Ruiru Sports Club chairman’s prize golf tournament, set for the 1st of April 2023 at the club’s Par-73 course.

The event has attracted a huge field of over 290 golfers, drawn from Ruiru and other clubs including Thika Sports Club, Muthaiga, Karen among others, in celebration of Chairman Dominic Chege Ndungu, who will be serving his second year in the position.

This will be KCB’s 9th year as sponsors of Ruiru’s Chairman’s prize, underlining the brand’s commitment to supporting the growth of golf in the country. Apart from this event, KCB has so far sponsored the 2023 Magical Kenya Ladies Open, the Safari Tour, and the Corporate Citizens of Africa (CCA) Sustainability Golf tournaments, this year, overall the brand has invested over half a billion shillings in golf over the last 10 years.

Speaking on the bank’s sponsorship, KCB Group Director Marketing and Communications, Rosalind Gichuru said, “Sports sponsorship remains a key part of our brand’s engagements and the Ruiru Chairman’s prize event offers us a unique platform to not only support golf but also interact with our customers.”

“At KCB, we remain great believers in the potential that sports holds as a growth driver in our country, that is why our sponsorship footprint cuts across football, volleyball, rugby, and golf.”

The tournament was preceded by a Pro-Am event played on Thursday 30^th March, which attracted over 30 professional golfers including Samuel Njoroge, CJ Wangai, and David Wakhu. The event was won by elite amateur Michael Karanga.

Speaking on the tournament, Dominic Chege said, “It has been an exciting journey that can only be culminated with such a tournament, we are privileged to host such a great field of golfers from across the country. As I begin my second year serving this great club. I am grateful to the club members for once again entrusting me with this great honour of serving this club.’’

“On behalf of Ruiru Sports Club, I would like to thank our long-standing sponsors, KCB Bank for the support they have shown us over the years, we look forward to further partnerships in the coming years.”

In addition to the Ruiru Chairman’s prize, KCB will also be sponsoring Nature Kenya’s ‘Lungs For Kenya’ Charity Golf Tournament, which will take place today, March 31st, 2023 at the Karen Country Club. The tournament aims to bring together players from different corporate entities, partners, and other organizational stakeholders to make a positive change in our environment.

KCB Bank supports this initiative as part of its Sustainability strategic agenda of supporting initiatives towards the fight against climate change, as per adopted SDG13 on Climate Action. Currently, the Bank is running with the tree-planting initiative with an aim to plant 1.5 million trees in the next five years.

Jorge Campillo lifts the Magical Kenya Open trophy after winning the title today.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Spaniard Jorge Campillo, 36, is the winner of the 56th edition of Magical Kenya Open Golf Championships.

Campillo ensured he maintained his lead on the final day with a perfect end to the 2023 Magical Kenya Open-DP European Tour Event at the Par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club Sunday as he won the title in style with a score of -18 (266).

For his troubles, the Caceres-Spain native took home Sh 44 million (340,000 USD) including 460 ranking points. This was his third title in the tour, having previously won the 2019 Trophée Hassan II and the 2020 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

The World No.257 finished on an impressive total of 266 after some good rounds on the course. Save for an unlikely bogey on hole 11, the player was as effective with his shot selection as they come. In the previous three rounds, Campillo had -2 (69), -3 (68) and -8 (63) en route to top status in the leaderboard on Saturday.

“I am so happy to win this tournament, having led from the third round. This is a tricky course and you have to hit the ball well to succeed. I have been here for a while and this is only my third title in the Tour. For 12 years, I have been practising hard and since this is my first year on the European Tour, I am excited. It is a huge moment for me and I will cherish it for a long time. I feel more relaxed now and definitely looking ahead to greater tournaments. I cannot be here without my caddie, so special recognition to him as well,” he said.

Campillo, however, had to be wary of Japanese players especially fourth-placed Ryo Hisatsune who however finished on -15 (65) for a total of 269 after his four rounds.

The second finisher was Japanese 30-year player Kawamura Masahiro who is ranked 303 in the World. Masahiro posted a score of -16 (268). He had a score of -4 (67) in Round One,-4 (67) in Round Two,-3 (68) in Round 3 and -5 (66) in the last round of the tournament.

Another Spaniard 33-year-old Ben Tarrio Santiago who closed with an excellent birdie in Hole 18 to pick -5 (66) and a total of 269 after four rounds also impressed on the course closing at third place. In the opening round of the competition, finished on Par 71 before vastly improving to -3 (68) in Round 2 and -7 (64) and ending on -5 (66). He finished third overall in the competition.

Ryo who is World No.200 had some incredible putting games on the course especially after earning seven birdies on holes 1,4,6,10,14,17 and 18. He only dropped a single shot on hole 13 thus picking a bogey in an otherwise error-free afternoon play. In Round 1, Ryo had a score of 70 on the board before improving to 63 in Round 2 but slipped to Par (71) in Round 3 before finishing on 65.

Africa’s highest-placed player was South African World Ranked 468th who led for the opening two rounds. He finished 10th with a score of -13 (271) with three birdies counting for his last round.