Mombasa to host Sunset golf tournament

Sunset Golfing Society, one of the oldest virtual golf groups in Kenya having been in operation for 27 years, will hold its annual Mombasa Edition Tournament this weekend.

The society’s recently elected captain Felix Ochieng said the Mombasa event — one of the most popular tournaments at the Coast — will start with a curtain-raiser at the historical Links Mombasa Golf Club course on Friday, before action shifts to the par 71 Nyali Golf and Country Club course on Saturday.

“We are excited to travel to Mombasa once again to begin our 2023 golf activities, though we held a mini-Sunset event at Vet Lab Sports Club in Nairobi on May 14 and our annual general meeting to elect and new officials to steer the society,” said Ochieng.

He said golf enthusiasts from across the region are expected to participate in the two-day event, which promises to be a competitive affair.

“There will be a number of divisions allowing players of all skill levels to get involved. The tournament is part of the society’s calendar of events across the country where members come together to enjoy the game of golf while socialising with one another,” said Ochieng.

The society has diverse membership of more than 400 golfers drawn from the western region who include professionals and business people.

Besides captain Ochieng, other newly elected officials who are travelling to the Coast for the event includes new elected chairman Eden Odhiambo and vice-chairman Sylvester Odhiambo, a former Captain of the Society who also once served as Mombasa Golf Club and Royal Nairobi captain.

“Golf is not only our core activity, but we endeavor to give back to the society by supporting the less fortunate as part of the society’s community social responsibility (CSR). We do have over 21 students currently benefiting from the scholarship awards both at Secondary and lately getting to tertiary levels.

Our vision for 2023 and beyond is to increase the number of students we do support, thanks to the support of the well-wishers and organizations towards this initiative. In addition, for the year 2022 we did support the mentorship of the girl child through affiliate organizations, partnered with Rotary and supported a medical camp in Siaya focusing on cervical cancer, women health and psychiatry," added Ochieng.

He said the vision of the current leadership led by Chairman Eden Odhiambo and himself is to scale up the membership and in a big way encourage Junior participation in golf in the western region focusing on schools in partnership with the Junior Golf Foundation.

For this weekend’s events in Mombasa, they have attracted the sponsorship of Stanbic Bank, Liberty Kenya (Liberty Life and Heritage Insurance) Tysons, Riley Falcon, VIP Hotel, AAR Healthcare and Clinics, Jibu Water, and individual member sponsors.

Meanwhile, the rest of the 2023 Sunset Golf events will be held at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club on September 22, with the grand finale now popularly known as “The Grand Sunset Festival’’ being hosted at the Nyanza Golf Club, Kisumu City in December.