•108 golfers from 28 different countries at next week’s Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
• Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa Swaziland and Morocco among African countries to be represented.
The Kenyan quartet of Agnes Nyakio, Mercy Nyanchama, Margaret Njoki and Nyali-based Bhavi Shah will lead 108 golfers from 28 different countries at next week’s Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
Africa will also be heavily represented with Georgia Iziemgbe, who represented Nigeria at the 2018 Youth Olympics, expected alongside up-and-coming Swazi Nobuhle Dlamini, South Africa duo of Stacy Lee Bregman and Lejan Lewthwaite, Maha Haddioui from Morocco as well as Ugandan-born American Lakareber Abe.
The European Tour event will be held a the Vipingo Ridge with the Pro-Am set for December 4, where Kenya’s amateur golfers will take to the course, teaming up with the professionals, to battle it out in a friendly game before the main event, which concludes ion December 8.
Meanwhile, Absa Group Limited, operating in Kenya as Barclays, has announced a Sh5.2m for nine Kenyan pros playing in the Safari Tour golf series in the run up to the 2020 Magical Kenya Open.
The sponsorship will cover the costs of participating in the remaining six legs of the Safari tour series for eight of the top ten pro golfers — as per the current Safari Tour ranking — as well as the youngest pro in the competition. These include Professional Golfers of Kenya captain C.J Wangai, Eric Ooko, Riz Charania, Simon Ngige, Kopan Timbe, David Wakhu, Jastas Madoya, Mohit Mediratta, and young pro Mathew Wahome.
“As a brand, we believe in connecting people’s dreams to the resources they need to achieve their aspirations, which is in line with our brand purpose of bringing possibilities to life. Given our long-standing association with the game of golf in this country, we fully recognize the need to support our pros to better prepare for the Open. It is through such partnerships that we can all play a part towards improving the performance of our Kenyan pros, and hopefully get a Kenyan winner in the future,” said Barclays Kenya Marketing and Corporate Relations Director Caroline Ndungu.
Earlier this year, Absa announced an investment of Sh150m in the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Magical Kenya Open tournament.