New calendar for amatuer golf out
Jay Sandhu of Royal Nairobi Golf Club follows the progress of his shot from the second tee on September 20, 2020 during the final of the Kenya Amateur Match Play Championship at Vet Lab Sports Club.
What you need to know:
- Going by the 2021 Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series calendar of events announced last Friday, a total of 22 championship events have been lined up for this season
- This year’s calendar includes three new events, two of which were part of a series of KGU-approved events in the era of the Golfer of The Year series
- The new national tournament is the Nandi Bears Trophy at Nandi Bears Club which will take place in October 16 and 17
National amateur golf is set to resume this month in the country, following last year’s cancellation of the entire national calendar, save for the two major events, the Kenya Amateur Match Play Championship and Kenya Open Amateur Strokeplay championship.
Going by the 2021 Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series calendar of events announced last Friday, a total of 22 championship events have been lined up for this season.
By the time Kenya Golf Union (KGU) announced the cancellation of the KAGC events because of Covid-19 pandemic, only events like Muthaiga Open, Mount Kenya Championship, and Sigona Bowl, had been played.
Due to the measures put across by Ministry of Health to curb the spread of the virus, the KGU opted to cancel the series. ''We however managed to run only two events, Match-play and Stroke-play which were used to select amateurs who will participate in the Magical Kenya Open from March 18, 2021’’ said KGU vice chairman Peter Kiguru who is also the tournament director in KGU.
This year’s calendar includes three new events, two of which were part of a series of KGU-approved events in the era of the Golfer of The Year series. Those are the Gold Fields Trophy to be held at Kakamega Sports Club from May 1 to 2, and the Ronald Marshall and Toby Gibson Trophy at Njoro Country Club which will take place from September 4 and 5.
The new national tournament is the Nandi Bears Trophy at Nandi Bears Club which will take place in October 16 and 17.
Each event has ranking points for amateurs who the union will consider while selecting teams to represent the country in international events and also selecting amateurs to play in the Magical Kenya Open.
As usual the national calendar tees off with the Sigona Bowl which will be marking its 62nd anniversary from January 23 to 24. It’s a 54-hole tournament sponsored by Turf Machinery and Irrigation ltd.
Golfers will then travel to Nyeri Golf Club for Mt Kenya Championship on February 6 and 7, before action moves to Muthaiga Golf Club for Muthaiga Open from February 20 to 21.
This year the Kenya Amateur Stroke Play whose 2020 edition was won by Royal Nairobi’s Jay Sandhu will be taking place in Nakuru while the Match Play whose defending champion is Vet Lab’s Isaac Makokha will be hosted by Muthaiga.
To wind up the year will be Nyali Open in December where the top amateur performers of the year will be awarded their trophies.
