Here’s the tricky bit on hole-in-one prizes

Back when Muthaiga Golf Club was still in the womb of the future, there was a golf course in Parklands.

The Parklands Golf Course was situated around where Hospital Hill Primary School is today. Muthaiga Golf Club eventually swallowed up the small but enthusiastic Parklands Golf Course and what is left of this course today, is the Kenyan record of the first ever hole-in-one having been played at this golf course.

The honour of the hole-in-one belonged to a G. W. Knapman who achieved this while playing against a T. L. Hately.

A hole-in-one, where a ball is hit from the tee and ends up in the cup and remains there, is not always a great thing. It may look good on the score card when playing a stroke play competition and it is most likely to win the hole in match play, but if like me you are a person of slender means, you will be sweating bullets when you realise that you are expected to buy everyone at the club drinks.

And no, not all golfers are like me, happy to order a cup of tea. A number of them have exotic tastes preferring whiskies named after some Scottish valleys. Buying a round for everyone at the clubhouse, may set one back the cost of a wheelbarrow at one of our counties.

I made a hole-in-one at Limuru Country Club in March last year. I was ecstatic until I remembered that my golfer’s insurance had lapsed. I was crestfallen for the rest of the holes dreading the 19th hole.

This will not be the case today if I make a hole-in-one on the 7th hole at Limuru Country Club. Toyota Kenya has generously donated a 10-ton Hino truck worth a few millions for the first person to make a hole-in-one at the Kenya Society for the Blind charity golf game today. I will gladly buy the drinks if I can get to go home with the truck.

GUIDELINES ON CASH PRIZES

Is that allowed for an amateur golfer I hear you ask? A few months ago I earned the wrath of a few event organisers when I wrote that an amateur golfer is not allowed to win a prize worth more than £500 (around Sh66,500) neither is he allowed to win cash prizes.

Doing so may lose the golfer his amateur status. Well here is the good news; there is an exception to the rule. A golfer may take home the Hino truck or even a cash prize for a hole-in-one made during a round of golf.

This is not extended to a competition where the players are given several attempts, or contests conducted other than on a golf course. If an amateur golfer enters a hole-in-one competition that is set up on a driving range or one that uses one of these fancy video games, then he/she is restricted to the limit of £500 per prize.

I recently sat in a presentation made by a generous gentleman who offered to give some golfers some money if they performed well in a competition that they were going to participate in. He offered Sh1 million for anyone who won the tournament. I was cringing at the mention of the offer.

His intentions were to encourage the golfers and cash is always a good motivator. Unfortunately, this is not allowed by the Rules of Golf. Amateur golfers must never accept such cash awards since this invalidates their amateur status.

It is akin to doping for amateur golfers. I never got round to tell the golfers that they would lose their amateur status if they received the cash for their performance on the golf course and I was secretly relieved when they did not win.

Other than a cash award for a hole-in-one, professional golfers are the only ones allowed to receive cash gifts for their performance on the golf course.

On Friday, just like many other days on different golf courses, golfers will be playing at Limuru Country Club to raise money for a good cause. Kenya Society for the Blind relies on well-wishers and golfers have always stood to the occasion.

Any amateur golfer who wins the Hino Truck, will not be at risk of losing their amateur status and they are no longer required to donate the prize to a charity. I will be supporting this worthy cause today.

[email protected] The author is a Kenya Golf Union Executive