Golf: All set for Saturday’s Safaricom Golf Tour series in Kisumu

Kisumu’s Nyanza Golf Club will play host to the fourth leg of the Safaricom Golf Tour this weekend.

The event will feature corporate and junior tournaments on Saturday and Sunday as well as a caddies’ contest on Monday.

The tournament has attracted a field of 140 amateur and 100 junior golfers drawn from Kisumu and its environs including the Western region clubs.

The fourth leg in Kisumu will also involve a golf outreach programme to introduce the game to the local youth. Dubbed Golf Mtaani, the outreach programme is scheduled for Lolwe Grounds on Saturday from 11 am to 4pm.

Being a nine-hole and with a big field, teeing off for those drawn in the morning will be from as early as 6.30 am.

Like the other events, this weekend’s tournament will also include a junior tournament which will be held on Sunday and where over 100 juniors were listed to play.

Safaricom has been generous enough to put up a total of Sh100 million for this year’s series which also include events for caddies. For the Nyanza region, the Caddies competition will be played on Monday.

The inaugural tour aims to tap, nurture and grow talent among young golfers across the country. The company has also partnered with the Junior Golf Foundation to support them with the training of coaches, local golf tours and nationwide golf development.

“We have realised that most of our caddies are very skilful and they only need an opportunity to play. We believe that our caddies can be the best golfers in the country as has been proven by the likes of former caddie David Wakhu, one of the most renowned Kenyan pros.”

“This is why we have decided to have a caddies’ tournament on some of our tours to give them an opportunity to showcase their skills,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO Safaricom.

The 14-leg amateur series will culminate with the grand finale at Vipingo Ridge Golf Resort in August where winners from each event will converge to determine the overall champions.

Previously, Zain Manji won the third leg played at the Muthaiga Golf Club course.

Manji managed to put together a total of seven pars and one birdie for an excellent 41 points, to claim the overall title, his first major victory in his long golfing career.

This weekend’s tournament in Kisumu has attracted a fine entry of 140 players drawn from most of the clubs in the Western Kenya region such as Kakamega, Kisii, Kericho, and Nandi Bears Club among others.

There are also a number of guests drawn from clubs like Nakuru, Thuka and Royal Nairobi who will be joining players from the Western region.