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Safaricom Tour enters second leg at Limuru

 

The 2022 Safaricom Tour golf series which also includes junior golf events, resumes after one month-break.

And as expected, this weekend’s second leg which follows the successful opening leg at Nanyuki Sports Club in Laikipia County, has attracted an overwhelming entry of 244 players who will be battling it out for some fabulous prizes being offered by the giant mobile phone service provider Safaricom.

Being played in the stableford points scoring, this weekend’s tournament at Limuru Country Club is expected to produce three qualifiers who will join others from other venues, for the grand finale to be held at Vipingo Ridge’s magnificent Baobab course in Kilifi County which was the venue two weeks ago of Magical Kenya Ladies Open, a Ladies European Tour tournament.

A huge entry was received on Tuesday for the corporate event in the second leg. The big entry is because the event is also a qualifying tournament for the Nairobi Local Tour of the Uskids golf. 

On the other hand, with the increasing number of juniors joining golf at Limuru, over 100 juniors are expected to turn up for the clinic on Sunday.

Meanwhile, those who are expected to represent the club during the grand finale to be held in August 6, will include the overall winner, men and lady winners. During the opening leg at Nanyuki, 84 players participated in the corporate event while the junior event attracted 35 players. However, the junior golf clinic conducted by Junior Golf Foundation Development Officer Njuguna Ngugi and assisted by veteran pro Jimmy Kingori, saw an impressive entry of 50 juniors.

But back to Saturday’s corporate event, those drawn include some of the club’s leading players such as former amateur match play champion Paul Muchangi, former Kenya Golf Union chairman George Maara, and Francis Kimani among others.

Commenting on the series, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said: “During our first leg in Nanyuki we had over 100 junior and senior golfers take to the course and another 50 young people participated in our inaugural junior golf clinic. We also held an outreach programme, which was open to the public as a way of introducing the sport to the local youth and we look forward to emulating this success in Limuru."

“We are excited to have the second leg in Limuru. This commitment by Safaricom in supporting junior golfers in their most formative years we believe will inspire Kenya's future golf champions and take the sport to the next level,” said David Irimu, Chairman, Limuru Country Club.

Safaricom has committed Sh100 million for the 14-leg series which 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.

The investment in golf is part of the telco’s commitment to support, nurture and grow talent in the sport. Safaricom’s mobile money service, M-PESA recently sponsored the second edition of the Magical Kenya Ladies Golf Open which is part of the Ladies European Tour where the telco also held a junior golf clinic.

Meanwhile, the countrywide Johnnie Walker Golf Series enters its ninth leg with a field of over 150 golfers expected to battle it out at par 72 Karen Country Club course this weekend.

This follows last weekend’s eighth leg at the evergreen Kericho Golf Club course where Raymond Keter led his team of Kibet Too, Joel Chebon, and Ignatius Ngetich to victory. Speaking during the event at Kericho Golf Club, Kenya Breweries Limited’s (KBL) Marketing Manager for Spirits, Josephine Katambo said;

“I am happy that we are at this stage of the competition because it means that we are edging closer to our ultimate destination - Gleneagles. We head towards the semi-finals at Muthaiga Golf Club in May and later on play the Grand Finale at the iconic Gleneagles Golf Course in Scotland. This competition is a fantastic opportunity for the best of our local golfers to experience Gleneagles which is a true bucket-list destination for both golfers and non-golfers alike.”

Elsewhere, the country’s top lady golfers will be at Vet Lab Sports Club this weekend, for the Kabete Ladies Open which is being supported by host of corporates including Bayer EA, Simba Corp, Safaricom, EABL, Kericho Gold, Sense of Africa, Coca-Cola, and Tropical Heat.

And going for overall title in the absence of Chanelle Wangari who is still nursing an injury, will include Kitale-based Naomi Wafula, home players Mercy Nyanchama, Rachel Ndei, Agnes Nyakio, and Belinda Wanjiru, Royal Nairobi’s Ashley Awuor and Kiambu’s Joyce Wanjiru among others.

Besides the main event, there will be a subsidiary event for the men from Saturday noon which has however attracted a small field.    BY DAILY NATION   

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