Safari Tour tees off at Sigona as golfers begin race for European Tour qualification

The first event of the 2021/2022 Safari Tour, season four, is finally on at the par 72 Sigona Golf Club course where 63 golfers will battle in the opening round of the four-day event on Sunday 26 September.

Coming after a big break of five months since Kenya hosted back-to-back European Tour events, the Magical Kenya Open and the Savannah Classic both held at Karen Country Club in March, this week’s tournament has attracted a big entry.

Golfers drawn in Sunday's first round draw include players from Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi and Kenya, all of whom are members of the Kenya Open owned Safari Tour.

Among the visiting players who will once again be chasing slots in next year’s Magical Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club, include Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi, Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh, Malawi’s Paul Chidale, Uganda’s Deo Akope, and Rwanda’s Alloys Nsabimana.

The Rwandese golfer, alongside Vet Lab's Nelson Simwa have landed sponsorship from Rwanda’s Falcon Golf and Country Club, courtesy of one of Rwanda’s well known amateur golfer Innocent Rutamu.

Leading the campaign among the locals, will be Muthaiga’s Greg Snow, veteran Dismas Indiza, Samuel Njoroge, Simon Ngige, David Wakhu, Justus Madoya, Riz Charania and home players John Wangai, Mohit Mediratta, and Sujan Shah.

Teeing off is set for 8am from both first and 10th tee, with the amateurs listed to play including junior golfer Taimur Malik and lady golfer Naomi Wafula.

This year’s tour has seen the prize money increased from Ksh 1 millions to Ksh 2 million following an appeal by the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK).

The winner of each leg is set to take home about Ksh 230,000 or more if the prize fund goes up to Ksh 3 million.

Speaking during a virtually launch of the tour last week, Kenya Open Golf Limited tournament director Patrick Obath said one of the reasons why the tour start had been delayed was lack of sponsors.

“It has not been easy to get sponsors and though right now we have a couple of them, we are still waiting for more to confirm their support,’’ said Obath.

On the prize fund, Obath said it was the wish of the tour to try and improve the prize fund to about Ksh3 million as the Safari Tour prepares to register as a world ranking tour. On the other hand, Obath said they have tried to put back-to-back events in order to minimize expenses by the players especially those coming from outside Kenya.

"We have not included the regional events such as the Uganda Open because of the COVID-19 pandemic protocols but as soon as the rest of the regions are ready, we will include them on board and adjust the schedule accordingly. But as we work towards the World Ranking stage, we need to encourage more players particularly from the West Africa region so that we are able to have a maximum field of about 124 players’’ added Obath.

The opening event at Sigona, will be followed by four others in the month of October.

Order of events

1.Sigona Golf Club-September 26-29

2.Vet Lab Sports Club- October 2-6

3.Great Rift Valley Resort- October 9-13.

4.Nyali Golf and Country Club- October 16-20.

5.Leisure Lodge Beach and Golf Resort October 23-27.

6.Limuru Country Club- January 22-26, 2022.

7.Karen Country Club- February 5-9, 2022.

8. Muthaiga Golf Club- February 12-16, 2022.