Players celebrate with Esther Henseleit after she won the 2022 Magical Kenya Ladies Open at the PGA Baobab COurse, Vipingo Ridge, Kilifi County on Sunday.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Germany’s Esther Henseleit has retained her Magical Kenya Ladies Open after making a dramatic comeback on the tournament’s final round. Esther carded a round of 70 to end her campaign at the event with a 2-under par 286 score to claim the championship.

The final day turned out to be dramatic as the German international who was trailing Sweden’s Linnea Strom for the better part of the day rallied her shots to close the gap and claim the prestigious title.

She carded a round of 33 in the first nine and 37 in the second to finish the day with a total of 70, adding to her 74, 73 and 69 rounds in the first three rounds respectively to finish with 286.

Henseleit, who won the inaugural Magical Kenya Ladies Open tournament in 2019, takes home 45,000 Euros (approximately KES5.8 million) for her efforts. The tournament was the season opener for the 2022 Ladies European Tour, with a total prize purse of €300,000 (Approximately Ksh 38 million).

Speaking following her win, Henseleit said: “At the first, I just put my drive a little bit left and was blocked to the green. I hit a good shot into the green but couldn’t make a par putt. Then I played pretty well and holed some good long putts and kept it together. In the end, it was a bit of a struggle, but I made it, and I am pretty proud of my last few holes. I have been struggling with the putter a lot over the last one and a half. Years so it’s pretty cool that held the last one.”

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, who graced the event’s final day, noted the tournament plays a crucial role in developing golf in the country.

“It is an honour for Kenya to be hosting this prestigious Ladies Open after a two-year interruption following the Covid-19 Pandemic. We are proud that in 2020, Kenya was voted as the best golf destination in Africa at the World Golf Awards. This tournament, therefore, is another indication of Kenya’s diligence and commitment to hosting world-class sporting events,” she said.

On her part, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amb. Amina Mohammed hinted at considerations to increase the tournament’s prize money to raise its profile on the global scene.

“I urge all sponsors of this tournament to up this figure because it is essential that we appreciate the international golfers who come to play here. As the government and title sponsors of the tournament, we shall continue to support this tournament and pledge also to increase our money for this event,” said Amina.

Tourism & Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala urged the Ladies European Tour to make the tournament a permanent feature, noting that it plays a key role in positioning the country as a top golfing and tourism destination.

“We want this event to be an annual event that continues even beyond this government. We have laid the foundation, and I urge that the funding is raised so that the tournament can attract more international players golfers to come and play.”

The tournament was sponsored by The Government of Kenya – through the Ministry of Sports, Ministry of Tourism, and the Sports Fund – Huawei; Safaricom’s M-Pesa; Johnnie Walker; and Centum. It was jointly organized by the U.Com event and Vipingo Ridge and is part of the Ladies European Tour.

Sweden’s Linnea Strom in action at the PGA Baobab Course during Round One of the 2022 Magical Kenya Ladies Open at the Vipngo Ridge, Kilifi County.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

On a day many players struggled with form at the PGA Baobab Course at the Vipingo Ridge in Kilifi, Sweden’s Linnea Strom carded a superb round of 4-under par 68 to top the leaderboard, giving herself a two-shot cushion heading into the second round.

She carded a decent first nine, hitting birdies at the second, sixth and seventh holes but dropping shots at the fourth and eighth holes for a total of 35. She had an excellent back nine, carding a total of 33 courtesy of birdies at the 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 18th. Her only blemish on the back nine came at the par-4, 16th, where she dropped two shots.

Speaking after the round, Linnea said: “The wind was tricky out there, and the course was pretty firm, so if you don’t hit it where you want to, it can pretty much bounce anywhere. I played steady today, I had eight birdies, but I made some mistakes as well, but overall, I am pretty happy with the score; there are still some things I need to figure out, especially in the right to left wind, but hopefully, I can work that out tomorrow and continue to play well.

“I don’t mind the wind, when I play in the wind, I have to remind myself to be a bit more relaxed, and that’s something I have been trying to work on in the last year. So today, I knew I had to be relaxed to have a good swing and keep a good tempo, so I think I managed to do that well today. I had a good game plan, and I enjoyed it out there with my caddie. Practice has been going pretty well, I had a couple of good practice days here, and I like the course, but I didn’t really have any expectations.”

“I’ve been working on a few things in my game and my swing at the moment, and that helps scoring-wise because I take the expectations off, and I just want to go out there to keep on improving and work on the stuff I’ve been working on.”

Finishing the round in second was Emma Grechi from France, who carded a round of 2-under par 70. She carded 35 in the first nine, having holed birdies at the second and eighth holes, with the only dropped shot coming first. On the back nine, she carded a similar score of 35 with birdies at the 11th, 13th, and 15th and single dropped shots at the 10th and the 12th.

Speaking after the round, Emma said: “I had many ups and downs, but I just had to focus on my strategy and hit the greens and make the putts. I started in the morning, but after the first nine, I had some wind, so I had to take on the flags and be aggressive and try to make my putts, and all that happened, so that’s good. I came here to see if what I worked on in the winter is working or if I have to try something else, but I think it’s fine – I’m happy, and I think my coach will be happy.”

Amy Boulden from Wales and Julia Engstrom from Sweden joined Linnea and Emma as the only four players to play under par. Both finished tied in third, having carded rounds of 71.

It was a tough start for the Kenyan contingent, with Bhavi Shah and Faith Chemutai occupying the bottom two places on the leaderboard with opening rounds of 20-over par and 17-over par, respectively. Naomi Wafula ended the round tied in 87th with a score of 11-over par, while Mercy Nyanchama ended the round as the highest-ranked Kenyan at 7-over par.

Round Two of the event gets underway tomorrow at 7:45 am. The Magical Kenya Ladies Open is sponsored by the Government of Kenya – through Magical Kenya, Ministry of Sports, Sports Fund; Huawei, Johnnie Walker, Safaricom and Centum.