Kiprono raring to defend his Standard Group Golf series title

Standard Group CEO Orlando Lyomu (left), presents the overall winner award to golfer Wesley Kiprono of Eldoret Club during 2021/22 Standard County Golf Classic Series held in Eldoret on Saturday. 24.10.2021 [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

The second leg of the 2022 Standard County Golf Classic series heads to par 71 Eldoret Club on Saturday.

Eldoret champion Wesley Kiprono will be out to defend the title he won at the pristine golf course last October.

The 38-year-old father of three believes he is well equipped to retain the crown in his hometown that is famed for its athletics prowess.

“I’m fairly prepared. I have planned to intensify my training in the remaining days, especially with the early morning jogs,” Kiprono told Standard Sports.

“I’m also working on my short game. I’m hopeful that the victory will be mine at the weekend.”

Even though he is upbeat, the handicap 22 player admits he has not been playing much golf of late.

This is because he has gone back to college which is taking a chunk of his training and playing time.

“I have not won any championships since October. I returned to school and the studies have kept me busy from active golf, I plan to resume the game fully when I’m done with college,” he says.

On his way to claiming his first ever victory in the series last season, Kiprono fired a total of 42 stableford points after recording 22 in the front nine and carding 20 in the back nine to beat other 100 contestants to the coveted gong.

Kiprono took part in the opening leg of this season’s series in Nakuru in February where he gauged his fitness ahead of the Eldoret showpiece.

He believes the weekend championship will empower players in the region through effective networking.

“The fact that participants from around the country will come to Eldoret to take part in the series is a clear indication that most businesses will boom in profits, especially the hotel industry,” he said.

During the weekend’s event, sustainable actions on climate change will be carried out through the tournament’s theme ‘On the Green Course, for the Green Cause’.

This will be done through tree planting within the lush Eldoret Club.

The golf championship is also supported by Space and Style which is a manufacturer of the innovative Asili roofing and water harvesting and distribution solutions, FMD East Africa which is a distributer of farm machinery, hospitality industry providers Eka Hotel, Eldoret an local airline Jambojet.

Competition winners will get various special prizes including two nights for two, dinner for two and or a kingly spa treatment by Eka Hotel, Eldoret. Jambojet has also availed various destination tickets to be won.

Apart from the golf, the Standard Group PLC is also supporting other two climate action events in Eldoret this week as official media partners.

They are the Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company (ELDOWAS) Climate Action Conference to be held on Friday at the Eka Hotel, Eldoret and the Eldoret City Marathon to be held in the town on Sunday.

Standard Group’s KTN News will broadcast news live from the Eka Hotel, Eldoret.