Give flat bellies a chance: Time old bones let go their iron grip on Kenya’s golfing scene

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Summary: An open competition can only be true if everybody who feels they have a chance, gets an opportunity to enter or qualify for the competition. Why is the Kenya Open Golf Limited not holding Monday qualifying as happens on other Tour events?

By Mike The Pro Kibunja

In the press recently was an announcement for the selection of the athletes who shall represent Kenya at the 51st Commonwealth games. Such selections are always a spectacular event, and for very good reasons.

 A chance to perform at the world event opens the way to proceed to what may turn out to be a door to prosperity. You only need to visit Eldoret to see the real estate investments these world beaters have built once they win and bring home the dollars. These runners are probably the biggest investors in hostels for university and college students in Uasin Gishu County.

 

With such huge promises of prosperity, it is no surprise that competition is tight for selection to these teams. It has been said that selection for the Kenyan team is probably tougher than the Olympics and IAAF Championships themselves. That is probably true.

At one qualifying event for the 800-metres dash held at Nyayo Stadium in 1990, the lineup included the reigning Olympic Champion, Paul Ereng who was being challenged by the reigning Commonwealth Games, IAAF, all Africa games and Grand Prix Champions. At the trials, known favourite champions are frequently vanquished by new unknowns, some running barefoot. Such is the abundance and high level of talent in Kenya.

As usual, wherever there is money and glory, politics is sure to rear its ugly head. The method for selection of the athletes has always been a hot topic. Back during my Primary School days, I recall trials being held right from the locational level. The event would be open to all; students would be jostling with adults.

The prizes awarded ranged from blankets to Sufurias. The top three winners would then advance to the next stage at the divisional, district, and provincials and finally to the nationals.

An athlete who went through these stages and emerged tops would have been well tested, proved his mettle and thus earned his stripes.

Trouble came in during selections of the national team for the Olympics and other World events. The Top Brass at Kenya Athletics Federation came up with the concept of only selecting the top two at each event and awarding the third slot to a wild card. There was no clear indication what constituted a worthy wild card. That method failed miserably.

It was absolutely annoying and frustrating to see some unknown wild card being picked instead of the third ranked athlete who probably missed second place by the skin of his teeth. The Federation’s argument was that they had to give a chance to Kenyans who were living and training all over the planet, and also winning events there, a chance to join Team Kenya.

But did winning out there mean they were better than the athlete who came in third at the national selections? Who had they won against? After a huge outcry, this method was scrapped and the current 1-2-3 selection criteria enacted.

This method dictates that it does not matter that you are posting good times on the slopes of Mount Fuji, like one Douglas Wakiihuri, or on the tracks in the Appalachians like Paul Ereng. To be selected for the Kenya team you were now required to fly back home and face the residents of Naiberi Camp and Ngong Hills, at Kasarani. Just by looking at Kenya’s medal count, this method has worked.

This brings us to the method of selecting the Kenyans who shall be awarded the 22 and six slots allocated by the European Tour to Kenya Pros and Amateurs respectively.

In the Amateur category, and in line with the rest of the world golf events, the winners of the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series and the Kenya Amateur Open Strokeplay champion are already in. 

The other slots shall be taken by the best-placed amateurs in the ongoing selection series being sponsored by Barclays Bank. The countrywide series is being hosted at Karen, Muthaiga, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyali and Thika golf clubs.

Golfers from other clubs have been heading to these clubs, with entries sometimes topping 200. Those who fail in one event and believe they have game are relentless in travelling to the next venues. It is important to note that although these are amateur events, the scores that are considered are gross not net. Your Handicap does not count in amateur qualifying for Kenya Open.

The big controversial issue on team selection is of local pros. The four golfers who made the cut at last year’s event have been prequalified and need not worry. The others have to battle it out for the remaining 18 slots.

 It came out as a shock when the chairman of the Professional Golfers of Kenya, PGK, Charan Thethy, was quoted as having rejected a proposed series for the selection of pros sponsored by Barclays Bank.

In his words, “We know nothing about the launched Barclays series.”  He added: “The tournament organisers should wait for PGK to give them the 22 names. How we make the names, we know better”.

Now, that's is outrageous and condescending.  

The series would have comprised the Nairobi Open at the Karen Golf Club on February 2, followed by the Nakuru Open at the Nakuru Golf Club on February 10, then the Kisumu Golf Open at the Nyanza Golf Club on February 24.

We beg to differ, Mr. Chairman. For two reasons: One, The PGK is a national institution and subject to public scrutiny. It would have helped if you had elaborated on what system the PGK is using for the selection.

In previous years, the PGK was accused of favouritism and cronyism, where only certain pros were deemed qualified or good enough to play at the Open. In fact, there was no official selection system; selection was subjective. Thus some younger budding Pros who needed the experience, were denied opportunities for exposure to Tour Golf.

In the process, we saw some washed out pros whose reign on Kenya Golf had come and gone, get selected and make a mockery of Team Kenya. It is out of this that the pros created a selection system then. The question remains whether this is the method being used, and if it is the best. We shall be examining the 18 Pros selected by PGK under a microscope, and comparing them with those left out.

 I am suspecting that the young guns might get short-changed yet again. Which is unfortunate since these flat bellies are the future of golf in Kenya.

The second reason is one of attitude and reality. The Kenya Pro golf circuit is young and not adequately financed. They are certainly not competing once a week. It’s more like once a month. There aren’t enough purses or large enough purses to compete for and sustain these local pros. No wonder they are always begging for help and sponsorship.

It is therefore not acceptable to reject a sponsorship from such a benevolent sponsor. I have reason to believe that this rejection was a solo decision, that the other pros were not consulted and are definitely not amused. As Pros who golf for a living, they needed the cash prizes, especially at this time when they are preparing for the Kenya Open.

Even if, as we would find out, the PGK already had some selection system apparently sponsored by another company going on, that will culminate with the Jamii Masters in Sigona on March 13-15, the concept of co-sponsorship is not unusual.

In fact, the whole Kenya Open, though it has a Title Sponsor, is all based on co-sponsorship, all the way down to volunteer marshalls. There would have been nothing wrong with the two firms sharing the sponsorship podium. The Pros would have earned and benefitted financially and sponsors would have been happy. The keep-off attitude of the PGK chairman leads one to ask if the method they are using for selection is the best or fairest, and what else they might be hiding.

Actually, I did find one such gem, thus the question heading this article, whether our pros selected for the Kenya Open are the best this country has to offer. What about some really good but unknown golfers who live outside the country? How can they get in since, as it is now, selection is based on participation in local competitions during the year? There are actually two open doors for them. First, golfers who win, or do well in certain events abroad can apply to the European Tour for exemption. Pretty much what entrants from Europe do.

The second door is Monday Qualifying. This is a concept that has so far not been practised in Kenya, yet the European Tour provides two slots on each of their Tour events for Monday qualifiers, including the Kenya Open.

 It has remained a secret for a long time. The PGK has quietly been enjoying having these two free slots erroneously donated to them by the KOGL. It is not even clear who gets them and the criteria: I guess as the chairman said, they know best. Most likely they are issued to old cronies who participate in the Open just for ego and bragging rights. The same ones who last broke par at the Open twenty years ago, never made a single cut, but still feel the need to show that they still got it.

 These are wasted opportunities, and should not be allowed and the slot should go to more deserving golfers. Any golfer, amateur or professional who feels that they can qualify for an Open golf event has an opportunity to enter through Monday qualifying.

 Monday Qualifying involves lumping all those who missed qualifying, either through winning national titles or by nomination by their National Golf Union, and any other golfer, including foreigners, into a one-time do-or-die 18-hole strokeplay battle on the Monday of the Open.

To avoid jokers ruining the event, a small think-twice fee is charged to those who enter the competition. This fee actually becomes the Jackpot these competitors will be competing for. The top three qualifiers share the pot 3:2:1, but with any amateur’s winning being limited to the mandated $1,000.

But I do have to warn prospective entries: it is a tough event. We are taking about playing six rounds of golf in one week: the Monday qualifier, Pro-Am on Wednesday, then the four days of the event itself from Thursday to Sunday. By Sunday evening, if you are not dead yet, you will need a deep body Thai Massage, a bottle of Single Malt and twenty hours of sleep to get back to normal the next day!

Yours truly made a proposal to KOGL last year for a Monday Qualifying event last year, but a bit too late then. But they did promise to hold one this year. Despite inquiries, I have not heard anything about it so far nor received a response to the query. I am still hoping that they will hold one in the next two weeks, and in future Opens.

Conducting that one day event is no rocket science. Obviously the Kenya pros do not like the idea of losing these two free slots and I see them sabotaging the idea. But sorry guys, surf's up. Kenyan golf at the advanced level should neither be the esoteric closed shop that it is right now at PGK, nor a preserve of the older generation who are selfishly only interested in shutting everybody else out.

It is not unknown for eventual Open winners to have come in as Monday qualifiers. In 2010, India’s Arjun Atwal, virtually unknown on the PGA Tour, won the Wyndham Championship after getting in on Monday. The Web.com Tour, which is now the only route into the USPGA Tour after abolition of Q-School, provides such 12 spots each week. Why not at the Kenya Open? Over to you KOGL. Avid Kenyan golfers resident abroad are waiting. The likes of James Sang, Mark Kibutu and Raymond Makori who are very active and religiously compete on the New York/New Jersey and Washington D.C. Metropolitan golf circuits.

Lastly, I would like to debunk a common myth that just because one is employed as a pro at some golf club, he has the capacity and mettle for Tour Golf. There is a world of a difference between a Club Pro, a Teaching Pro and a Tour Pro. A Club Pro is an employee of a club, his role being to mainly run golf club events.

He arranges draws, organizes competition, updates handicaps, repairs golf clubs and may offer basic lessons. Golf coaching is a specialisation for Teaching Pros and requires certain knowledge and skills. As many of us have found out, some regular Club Pros find themselves challenged to teach advanced golf.

Thus is due to various reasons, among them inadequate understanding of the sport, lack of teaching skills and lack of facilities like swing analysis equipment and launch monitors. Tour Pros on the other hand devote themselves fully to improving the level of their golf. They are private contractors whose job is making money by competing in golf competitions.

It is therefore about time we asked if some of those 22 slots being offered to Kenya pros are indeed not being wasted on undeserving pros. If a pro consistently cannot break par at Muthaiga, he obviously has no hope of even making the cut, and is just wasting that slot. Such pros only enter the competition to satisfy their egos and due to social pressures from other pros, students and clueless sponsors.

Instead of wasting these precious opportunities, maybe some of those 22 slots, actually 20 slots once you remove the two for Monday qualifying, should, in a true East African community spirit of good neighborliness, be awarded to pros from neighboring countries. This will also expand the catchment of better players from the region, thus improving the level of local competition at the Kenya Open.

Tanzania and Uganda are only offered two slots each: one for a pro and one for an amateur. Yet we have a number of really good golfers in the region. Though ranked second at home, amateurs like Uganda’s Robert Otile and Tanzania’s Amani Saidi will beat some of our pros any day, and would have qualified for the Kenya Open had extra slots been provided to their countries.

The other assumption is that just because someone declares himself pro, his entry to the Kenya Open is automatic. It is not. The main world tours themselves have two to three hundred active Touring Pros at any time, yet only about a 140 slots are available for each weekly event.

The pros therefore have to apply to enter, with no guarantee of being selected. The truly open US Open receives more than a thousand applications from the USPGA, European Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Tour, Australasian Tour and a host of penultimate tours like the Buy.com and Challenge Tours.

A complex method of categorisation is then used to determine who takes the 156 slots available. The moral of this is that slots for the Kenya Open are a valuable opportunity that should only be availed to those who truly deserve and should not be wasted or be handed out on the basis of favoritism or cronyism.

Conducting national Open events is under the mandate of the national golf unition. Therefore those two slots the KOGL is erroneously donating to the PGK should instead revert back to the KGU who will then hold a Monday Qualifying competition.   This would make the Kenya Open Golf Championship truly Open.

 ©[email protected], 2018

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