Kenya’s finest golfers Dismas Indiza, CJ Wangai, Simon Ngige and Greg Snow are the only local professionals lined up for the Pro-Am of KCB Karen Masters which tees off this morning.
The Pro-Am will curtain raise the third edition of the 72-hole stroke-play Sunshine Tour-sanctioned event programmed for today through Sunday. Each of the 36 pros entered for the Pro-Am will be accompanied by three amateurs.
The youngest player in today’s Pro-Am is 13-year-old handicap 5 Andrew Wahome who will tee it up with South African pro, Garrick Higgo, Azu Ogolla of KCB and Irene Kimeu.
CJ Wangai, the resident pro at Sigona, has the company of Nyali’s Road To The Masters' winner Joyce Masai, Sebo Kalsi and Gathuri Wanjau. They will tee off from the first tee at 8 am.
Quite a big chunk of Sunshine Tour pros will also be in action. Among them are defending Karen Masters champion Michael Palmer and Merrick Bremner who is being sponsored by Betway.
Bremner is no stranger to the par 72 Karen course, where he lost the blue jacket to Palmer last year.
Palmer has the company of amateurs Anthony Murage and James Githinji and will tee-off from the tenth tee at 1.30pm. Merrick, on the other hand, will be with Purity Muthoni, Tom Karanja and Fernando Wangila, also starting from the 10th tee.
Meanwhile, the event received a Sh33m from two corporates yesterday. Tusker announced a Sh28m sponsorship while Safaricom donated Sh5m. As part of the sponsorship, KBL, through the Johnnie Walker brand, will host golf fans at the tournament’s village throughout the tournament.
On the hand, as the official digital communication infrastructure sponsor, the Safaricom kitty will cater for a fully kitted media centre and internet as well as supporting the junior golfers’ shootout.
