Karen Country Club turns 85 in style

“Beware of lions in the area of 15th, 16th and 17th holes.”

This was an actual notice that greeted golfers who visited the Karen Country Club one day in the 1960s.

There was an actual natural hazard on the golf course. I doubt that many golfers would have wanted to go out and play under the circumstances.

However, if the passion for the game of golf displayed by the current members of the club like Jimmy Kimondo, Owino Ayodo and Andy Watt is anything to go by, I have a feeling that some members went out to play despite the presence of the lions on the course.

A lion is around the Karen Country Club this weekend. One that is not going to be intimidating as the ones that were lurking in the woods back in the 1960s.

The KCB lion will be very conspicuous at the inaugural KCB Karen Masters. An event that has been prepared as part of the club’s celebration of its eighty years of existence.

The club owes its existence to Remi Martin. And no, I don’t mean Rémy Martin the cognac. Jean Remi Martin organised the acquisition of the land from Karen Blixen and even designed the golf course. He initially intended to build a nine-hole course and as he consulted with other seasoned golfers like J. D. Leonard and Arthur Tannahill from Royal Nairobi Golf Club, he went on to build an 18-hole golf course. The J. R. Martin house which is close to the first tee, was named in his honour.

Over the years, the course has hosted some renowned international golfers. In the 1950s the club hosted Dai Rees who was one of the golfing greats. He is reputed as one of the greatest British golfers who never went on to win The Open Championship. In January of 1951 at the Karen Country Club, he partnered with O. J. T. Llewellyn to beat W. A. C. Nicoll and D. T. Dobie in a four ball match play exhibition game.

Another golfing great to play at Karen Country Club in the 1950s was Bobby Locke. He won The Open Championship an amazing four times. It seems that the favoured format of play at the time was four ball match play. Bobby Locke partnered with J. A. Palferman against D. T. Dobie and N. M. McGloin.

More recently, we have had we have seen some top golfers. Louis Oosthuizen played here as an amateur golfer in the 1990s. He set the amateur course record that was broken last year by Frenchman, Romain Langasque. The current twenty fifth ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, Rafael Cabrera Bello, came third during the Tusker Kenya Open of 2008.

Apart from the golfing greats, there have also been people from different backgrounds patronising the Karen Country Club golf course. Last year Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, was hosted for a round of golf by an eminent member of the club, Allan Wainaina. I am informed that Pep’s golf is not too shabby.

Recently, the Kenyan golf scene has been showered with many complimenting adjectives. We were recently voted as the best undiscovered golfing destination. We have continued to bask in the praise and are happy that golf is a growing sport in the country.

We have however not done much as a golfing community to grow beyond the weekend corporate golf days and monthly mugs. The Kenya Open has served us well as a platform that has brought in international stars to our country and exposed us to the high standards of the game.

Karen has now taken the lead by introducing a second international event. The club has done what a lot of people have been talking about without much action.

This, I hope, is the beginning of a pulsating new golfing scene that will see the birth of opportunities for our talented golfers. I hope that this is the beginning of a new era that will see golf clubs start ambitious projects that will propel the golfing scene to greater heights.