73 players to battle it out at Kiambu Open

The battle for cash and points in the 2023 Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series resumes this weekend with the 54- hole Kiambu Open golf tournament at the par 72 Kiambu Golf Club course.

The Kiambu Open being sponsored by NCBA Bank and GA Insurance comes two weeks after the Manchester Salver held at Eldoret Golf Club course where Kiambu’s Michael Karanga triumphed to make it 13 wins in the KAGC series so far.

But unlike the Manchester Salver event which attracted over 100 players, this weekend’s Kiambu Open, the 24th leg in the KAGC series, has attracted only 73 players.

This is because there are quite a number of club tournaments taking place elsewhere in the country this weekend where players particularly from Nandi Bears have chosen to stay at home to play in the KCB East Africa Tour.

All the same, most of the top ranked players will be in action at Kiambu where teeing off for the first round is set for Friday.

Those include Railway’s John Lejirmah, who appears to be the main challenger for the on-form Michael Karanga, who last weekend shot 10 under par 62 to claim the Kiambu Captain’s Prize.

Other leading players out to beat Karanga at his home course include Vet Lab’s Ebill Omollo and Isaac Makokha, Vipingo Ridge’s Adel Balala and the newly crowned Uganda Open amateur Champion Godfrey Nsubuga, who makes a comeback after missing the Manchester Salver two weeks.

Karanga is definitely the player to beat this weekend where at stake will be Sh520,000 for the top 20 finishers.

Only two lady players, Naomi Wafula from Vipingo Ridge and home player were drawn at Kiambu to battle it out with the men.

Meanwhile, Nandi Bears Club hosts the penultimate leg of the KCB East Africa Golf Tour where a field of 100 golfers were drawn.

The top two teams will get an opportunity to participate in the tour’s grand finale slated for December 15 at the Karen Country Club, where they will join 14 other teams that have already secured their places in the much-awaited event.

Nandi Bears Club Captain Isaac Kuto said: “The KCB East Africa Golf Tour offers a platform for golfers from this region to compete against top players from other clubs. We have kept our greens well and the ambience here provides an excellent environment for a round of golf.

I am expecting a huge turnout on Saturday and looking forward to awarding the winners at the end of the tourney.”

"Since we launched the KCB East Africa Golf Tour in April, it has been a huge success. We have reached so many participants as well as nurturing budding talent through the clinics that run concurrently with the series. As we approach the end of this year’s edition, we urge golfers to sign up for the Nandi edition to battle for the slots remaining for the grand finale showpiece,” noted KCB Group Director Marketing and Communication Rosalind Gichuru.