Kenya: Challenge Set for Nyeri Club

Larry Ngala

30 June 2011

Nairobi — The nine-hole Nyeri Golf Club course, which last hosted a tournament almost a month ago, is the venue for Friday’s Nation Media Group Corporate Challenge which has attracted a field of 70 players.

This is the third Nation Media Group tournament of the 2011 series, the first having been held at the Nyali Golf and Country Club in Mombasa in March, followed by the Nyanza Golf Club round on May 28, where Nyanza’s Ken Owiti fired an excellent 40 points to claim the overall title.

Clubs from Mount Kenya region

This weekend’s tournament has attracted golfers from most of the clubs around the Mount Kenya region as well as those from Muthaiga, Nyeri and Nyahururu.

“As we take a break from the Nation Classic after a continuous sponsorship from 1996, we thought of offering few events this year special to our clients in most of the regions where we have our branches as we plan for future series,” said David Maingi, Nation Media Group’s head of corporate affairs.

Maingi said attractive prizes will be at stake this weekend at Nyeri, where the group’s chief executive, Linus Gitahi, will lead staff and guests who include newly-elected Kenya Golf Union chairman, Mwaniki Gachoka, and other KGU executives.

The next stop for the Corporate Golf Challenge will be Kiambu Golf Club on August 20.

Meanwhile, in Nakuru, a field of 160 players drawn from Nakuru, Njoro, Naivasha, The Great Rift Resort, and Gilgil will be battling it out for two qualification slots in the Dasani Golf Gala whose grand finale is set for Karen next month.

Among the teams going for the slots will be that of Vareen Gudka, Esther Karuga, Brian McGuire and Bernard Kandie. Other players to watch include Moses Kiragu, Njuguna Njoka, Maina Kariuki and Josephine Kandie.

The series has so far visited Kiambu, Limuru, Vet Lab, Machakos, Muthaiga, Sigona, Thika, Windsor and Nyali in Mombasa. A total of 22 players have so far qualified for the Grand Finale.

From Nakuru the gala heads back to Nairobi at the Railways Golf Club for two qualification slots into the Grand Finale. The winning team in the Dasani Golf Gala will win an all expenses paid trip to the TOUR Championship to be held at the East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, USA courtesy of Coca-Cola.

The winners will get to play on some of the most prestigious golf courses on the PGA Tour including the TPC SugarLoaf and the TPC SawGrass. They will also tour the headquarters of the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta.

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