Veteran player Dismas Indiza has resorted to intense range practice as he seeks to perfect his swing ahead of the Magical Kenya Open slated for the Par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club on March 9-12.
The longstanding national team player leads a strong home brigade of eight professionals listed for the Kenyan round of the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour).
Indiza believes he can carry his current good form to the event and hopefully make the cut into the money bracket.
The long-hitting pro is currently at his Mumias home course, where he has embarked on rigorous range activity.
“I’m doing a lot of range practice at the moment just to see how far I can hit the ball. In golf, you have to practice a lot more. I have always had this belief that, the more you practice, the luckier you become. I am glad that my swing is closer to where it’s supposed to be,” he said.
Indiza will return to the fabled Kenya Open for the umpteenth time following his qualification through the Safari Tour and he is overly excited about it.
“It’s very, very special to be back in the groove and I’m very happy to be a part of Kenya’s premier golfing event,” said Indiza, who finished sixth in the Safari Tour season.
Indiza will be joined in the fray by Safari Tour Order of Merit champion Greg Snow (Muthaiga), Simon Ngige (Thika), Mutahi Kibugu (Muthaiga), Mike Kisia, Daniel Nduva from Mombasa, Great Rift pro Jastas Madoya and Samuel Njoroge of Railways.
The Kenya amateur team has Njoroge Kibugu, John Lejirma, Jay Sandhu, Dennis Maara, Daniel Kiragu and Adel Balala.
Two regional players, Visitor Mapwanya from Zimbabwe and Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo — who also qualified through the Safari Tour — will also take part in the iconic event, which is being organised by the Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL).
“It means a lot to have Kenyans play at this event,” remarked Indiza, adding: “I’ve been playing on the Kenya Open for many years now and the amount of exposure we gain from the event is amazing, I mean brushing shoulders with leading Tour golfers is truly out of this world.”
The KOGL chairman Peter Kanyago said a total of 156 nationalities will play in the main event while over 100 junior players will attend a golf clinic to be conducted by local and international pros.
Kanyago said : “The event is expected to reach 500 million households across the world. This will definitely showcase the country as a viable tourism destination.”
On Monday, Absa Bank sponsored the tournament to the tune of Sh70 million.
