South Africa-based Daniel Nduva is excited to represent the country for the first time as a professional.
Nduva is among nine pros set to represent the country at the Magical Kenya Open slated for the Muthaiga Golf Club course on March 3-6.
The event, which will count towards the DP World Tour, brings together over 156 golfers from Kenya and across the world, including 9 Kenyan professionals, six Kenyan amateurs, and two regional players.
Nduva jetted back into the country in January and was handed a wildcard following his performance in the last leg of Safari Tour where he finished second behind Zimbabwean Robson Chinhoi at Muthaiga earlier this month.
Other wildcards in the event are South Africans Toto Thimba and Jayden Sharpier as well as Ugandan Ronald Rugamayo.
Nduva, who learned the ropes at Nyali Golf and Country Club, is among the players sponsored by Absa Bank alongside Golf Park resident pro-David Wakhu, Sigona's Mohit Mediratta, and Simon Ngige.
"I'm aiming to make the cut at the Kenya Open for the first time as a pro. I have played in the tournament many times as an amateur so it's really exciting in a different capacity." Said Nduva.
"Having savoured training and exposure down south I feel confident going into the Kenya Open," he added.
Nduva's ABSA teammate Mohit said he will be going for an outright win.
"No Kenya has laid hands on the coveted title despite being hosts. My aim will be to break the lame-duck, so I'm overly excited to be a part of the Kenya team," Mohit said.
The duo was speaking at Muthaiga Golf Club, where they received a sh 2.7 million sponsorship boost from Absa Bank Kenya.
The sponsorship will go towards helping the pros to meet their tournament costs such as registration, payment of the caddies as well as provision of necessary items such as their shirt, gloves, golf balls among other items.
“As a bank, whose purpose is bringing possibilities, we stand behind our local Pros who have done extremely well to make it to the final entry list. As the Presenting Partners of this year's edition, we want to take it a notch higher by motivating them to give their best ever performance and fly our Kenyan flag even higher,” said Absa Bank’s Managing Director Jeremy Awori.
“We believe that the Magical Kenya Open is more than just a tournament. It’s a moment to showcase and expose Kenyan golf talent to the world,” he added.
The sponsorship will cover the players' participation costs in the tournament as well as serve as motivation for the local pros to compete for a grand purse prize of Sh 227 million, making it one of the most competitive legs in the ongoing DP World Tour.
