King Of The Course heads to Nanyuki

What you need to know:

  • The Nyeri line-up includes club chairman Arthur Muchiri, Fr. Anthony Munene, Wachira Keen, Mose Sammy, Eddie Karumwa, and lady golfer Mercy Mburu.
  • With Nyahururu hosting the Year Opener also on Saturday, most of the Nyahururu players may opt to remain at home, though of the leading golfers from the club, Boniface Waikwa is drawn at Nanyuki.

Action in the 2020 ICEA Lion King Of The Course series now moves to Nanyuki Sports Club for the third leg this weekend, which comes back-to-back after the record breaking second leg at the par 72 Ruiru Sports Club, where a huge field of 302 players did battle.

Courtesy of sponsors ICEA Lion Insurance group, the King of the Course trophy, whose original home is Machakos, is now a country-wide series from where the top five players from each leg will be parading at Machakos Golf Club for the King of The Course Grand Slam in 2021.

This weekend’s tournament, which is open to golfers in the Mountain region as well as guests and staff of ICEA Lion, has attracted a field of 127 with club captain Mark Kirimi revealing that post entries are still been accepted, though from 11am.

The field includes a strong contingent from Machakos Golf Club led by club chairman Sawran Singh and his captain Joe Mboya, who is also the convenor of the ICEA Lion King of The Course series.

Besides the two, other Machakos players travelling to Nanyuki, whose members have also been supporting Machakos Golf Club, will be the winner of the first leg at Machakos, James Ndunda, currently playing off handicap five, who also featured in the prize list of the Ruiru event.

Among the locals, who will be vying for the beautiful trophy and the take away overall prize besides club captain Mark Kirimi include, Jediel Muriungi, veteran John Mathai and Joshua Kinoti.

The Nyeri line-up includes club chairman Arthur Muchiri, Fr. Anthony Munene, Wachira Keen, Mose Sammy, Eddie Karumwa, and lady golfer Mercy Mburu.

With Nyahururu hosting the Year Opener also on Saturday, most of the Nyahururu players may opt to remain at home, though of the leading golfers from the club, Boniface Waikwa is drawn at Nanyuki.

At the scenic Limuru Country Club, over 250 players are drawn for the inaugural Good Hope Travel/Qatar Airways golf tournament, courtesy of former Limuru captain Ken Chege.

The event, a joint venture between the two corporates, gives the two very fine brands an opportunity to introduce their top range products.

Good Hope Travel CEO Patrick Ngotho said he was grateful to Qatar Airways for having accepted to partner with Good Hope Travel for the inaugural event.

“Golfers in Kenya and elsewhere are among the most travelled people in the world and Good Hope Travel and Qatar Airways, the World Airline of the year 2019, will be there to offer the very best in the world of travelling," he said.

The field drawn includes Kenya Amateur Match play champion Paul Muchangi, who is preparing for the 2020 Magical Kenya Open, former national team captain Francis Kimani and Kennedy Ngumbau, a good client of Good Hope travel.

Meanwhile at Vet Lab Sports Club, the par 72 course will host the 2020 Year Opener Chairman’s Mbuzi, where club chairman Mary Maingi, elected on December 18, 2019, has lined up an array of prizes and lots of entertainment.

The event is being sponsored by East Africa Breweries, XRX and Friends of the Chairman.

Maingi, a past lady captain, is the second lady chairman to be elected at Vet Lab, the first one having been Nelius Kariuki, who served in 2011 and 2012. Kariuki and Maingi are among the few lady golfers who have challenged the men by seeking the senior most position in the various golf clubs in the country.

They are following in the footsteps of the late Rosemary Wambui of Kiambu Golf Club, who was the first lady to be elected as club chairman in 1989.

Others include the late Joyce Waiganjo (Limuru 2002), Linda Longstaff (Thika 2002/2003), Christine Ockotch (Nyali 2014/2015), Betty Mutua (Thika 2017) and Dr. Caroline Wangai Ngugi (Limuru 2019/2020).

And just fresh from hosting the eighth leg of the Safari Tour, the tough playing Muthaiga Golf Club course will be this weekend host the fifth leg of the Johnnie Walker Golf series.

This weekend’s event follows others held at Royal, Karen, Windsor, and Thika Sports Club. A large entry of over 250 players will be vying for an array of prizes including the overall winner’s prize.

During the last event at Thika Sports Club, veteran golfer Ngugi Njuguna posted an impressive score of 40 points, a score which may prove a difficult task to achieve at Muthaiga, particularly in the current wet condition the course is at the moment.

From Muthaiga, the Kenya Breweries sponsored series will move to Kiambu next weekend and later to Sigona on February 8, while other events will take place at Limuru and Nakuru on February 15 and 22, before the grand finale at Vet Lab on March 7.