Lady Golfers from every corner of the country head to Vet Lab Sports Club for the Kenya Ladies Golf Union (KLGU) Chairman’s Prize on Friday and Saturday.
The two-day event, which officially winds up the term of KLGU Chairman Rosemary Olonde has attracted 300 players who will be battling it out for a big list of fabulous prizes for each of the three divisions.
The C Division, which is a fast-growing entry section for most new golfers will play a stableford round on Friday, while the Elite Squad, Division A and B will play a medal round on Saturday as a Golfer of The Year (GOTY) event.
Meanwhile, the Chairman’s tenure has been an eventful one and quite interesting with the introduction of Ladies golf circuits played in Western, Central and Nairobi North. An increased number of lady golfers also participated in these events countrywide.
Kenya also presented a team to the All Africa Challenge Trophy (AACT) held in Dar es Salaam Tanzania, and the just concluded Ladies European Tour (LET) Magical Kenya Ladies Open held at Vipingo Ridge, where Naomi Wafula made history by being the first Kenyan lady golfer to make the cut.
As one of the key achievements in her term, the KLGU Council introduced and approved the Underprivileged Girls Policy to assist the Council in getting a systematic approach to identify needy girls with golf-related talent for assistance and moderation by the Council.
As per tradition, KLGU Chairman’s Prize will be held hand-in-hand with the Annual General Meeting (AGM) set for Friday, and which will be held in hybrid format (virtual/physical) to allow as many lady golfers across the country to attend and participate.
The registration process for the AGM has been ongoing and many lady golfers have already submitted their names/entries.
Current Vice Chairman Lydia Obonyo of Kenya Railway Golf Club is expected to take over from Olonde who is also the Vice President of the Kenya Golf Federation. Muthaiga’s Jane Nzibo as well as Obonyo, the two joint Secretaries Mukami Wangai and Rosemary Mkok are all unopposed and so are two Councillors Wanja Kiamni of Royal and Louisa Gitau of Karen and the three regional representatives Terry Odoo (Coast), Jane Koech (North West) and Frankie Gichuru(South East).
Current treasurer Florence Kamau of Railway and Rita Wambui Waruinge of Royal will battle it out for the post of treasurer.
Outgoing chairman Olonde remains in the council as the immediate past chairman and so are Councillors Rachel Ndei, Betty Mutu, Patricia Wangongu, Mary Muthoni and Central region representative Jane Munyori who have one more year to serve.
Away from the KLGU Chairman’s Prize and KLGU Annual General Meeting, Muthaiga Golf Club will host the Safari Tour Golf series pro-am, a curtain-raiser for the final leg of the 2022/23 Safari Tour edition whose opening round is set for Sunday.
The pro-am has attracted an impressive field of 244 including professionals such as Railway’s Samuel Njoroge who won the Karen leg on Wednesday. The pro list includes the two players Njoroge beat in the Karen event, namely Justus Madoya and Zimbabwe’s Visitor Mapwanya.
Others listed are John Limb, Daniel Nduva, John Wangai and Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi who surprisingly failed to make cut at Karen, having dominated the tour’s sixth edition. Teeing off at Muthaiga is set for 6.30am with the afternoon scheduled for 11.30am.
