Ladies converge at Karen for Nancy Millar Trophy
Aisha Duba follows the progress of her tee shot during the Nancy Millar Golf Trophy at Karen Golf and Country Club on September 17, 2016.
What you need to know:
- The Nancy Millar Trophy, being sponsored this year by I&M Bank and Crown Paints, and named after a past Lady captain at Karen Nancy Millar who served in 1942, 1946, 1953 and 1968, has been taking place annually since 1970
- It usually attracts participation from lady golfers from all the clubs where they sign up to play in teams of four and not necessarily from the same club
- It’s a three rounds tournament whose first two rounds will be played on Saturday morning and afternoon with the final round set for Sunday morning
Action in the ladies golf scene now shifts to the par 72 Karen Country Club course this weekend, for the annual Nancy Millar Trophy, one of the most popular ladies team championship.
This weekend’s event comes back-to-back after last weekend’s Kenya Ladies Open Amateur Match Play Championship held at Vet Lab Sports Club where home player Channelle Wangari beat Kitale’s Naomi Wafula 2-up in the final match, to become the match play champion.
Wangari had earlier beaten Nancy Wangari 5-4 while Wafula had sailed through to the final after beating home player Mercy Nyanchama 1-up in the semi-finals.
The two leading lady golfers will not be in action at Karen, but Royal Nairobi’s Rachel Chebukati who went out in the semi- finals in the A division championship where she lost to eventual winner Mwongeli Nzioka of Limuru 5-4, will be in action where she will be partnered by her mother Mary Chebukati in one of the Royal pairs.
The Nancy Millar Trophy, being sponsored this year by I&M Bank and Crown Paints, and named after a past Lady captain at Karen Nancy Millar who served in 1942, 1946, 1953 and 1968, has been taking place annually since 1970. It usually attracts participation from lady golfers from all the clubs where they sign up to play in teams of four and not necessarily from the same club.
It’s a three rounds tournament whose first two rounds will be played on Saturday morning and afternoon with the final round set for Sunday morning. During last year’s event, Pettie Ndolo (current Lady Captain) who is paired with Royal Nairobi’s Nancy Ikinu, teamed up with Rose Mambo (immediate past lady captain), Sarah Nyareru and Kate Murima, to claim the title.
Other ladies will however be heading to Machakos, for the Machakos Ladies Open where a field of 64 players including Kenya Ladies Golf Union (KLGU) chairman Sarah Hoare of Royal Nairobi, will be battling it out for the top honours.
Fresh from her A division championship triumph at Vet Lab during the Match Play championship, Mwongeli Nzioka of Limuru who is also a member at Machakos where she started her golfing career, will be one of the players to watch. Others are Vet Lab’s Mercy Nyanchama and of course the KLGU boss Hoare.
Away in Kericho, a field of 100 players was drawn for the Crown Paints golf series. This is one of the three back-to-back events Crown Paints is hosting, the others to take place at Royal Nairobi and Limuru Country Club on September 18 and 25.
Meanwhile the par 73 Nakuru Golf Club course which was the venue last weekend of the Nation Classic, will this weekend host the Protestant golf tournament which has also attracted a fair entry.
Down at the Coast, junior golfers will be converging at Nyali Golf and Country Club course for the JGF golf series event which is open for both handicap and non-handicap juniors.
