Golf for disabled included in 2024 Magical Kenya Open

The introduction of the golf for the disabled category in the 2024 Magical Kenya Open is one of the most notable features of the edition.

Speaking during the unveiling of the ABSA sponsorship on Tuesday 12 February, 2024 MKO tournament director Patrick Obath noted that major changes have been made to make the edition bigger and better.

Apart from the prize money, the tournament director announced that this year they have included a special needs category to add a different flavor to the tournament.

“We have people with disabilities playing. They have various disabilities, there are two with cerebral palsy, two who have been amputated at different levels, and two or three of them have disorders within their spinal system and so forth,” Obath said. “They can play as professionals and this is the first time this will be happening in Africa and I think this will be an inspiration to people who have different disabilities in this country to be able to see golf as an opportunity to make money.”

The 2024 MKO is scheduled for February 22-25 at the Muthaiga Golf Club.

In addition to the special needs category, Obath pointed out that a business conference will be held before the event to tap into its economic benefits.

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“There will be a business forum a couple of days before the event where we will bring people who want to invest and the government. Golf has the opportunity of bringing people who can talk about business together and then we appreciate the value that our sponsors get out of this event,” he revealed.

The event will bring together nine local professionals, three regional professionals, and four amateurs who will be part of the talented field of 144 golfers.

“This year we shall have 144 entries since we got a smaller field and with the help of the DP World Tour, we got an additional 500,000 dollars so the prize purse will be 2.5 million dollars. This means that the quality of the field is going to be better and we are going to get a higher number of viewers,” Obath told the attendees.

Meanwhile, ABSA Bank has pumped Ksh 75 million to sponsor the event.

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According to the bank CEO Abdi Mohamed, Ksh. 55 million will be channeled to the Kenya Open Golf Limited while the remaining Ksh 20 million will be used to support surrounding activities like branding and marketing.