Weekend’s focus on Ruiru, Nakuru and Eldoret clubs

Action resumes at the Ruiru Sports Club this weekend, two weeks after the colourful AAR Healthcare tournament where in-form Angelus Maina clinched the title.

This weekend over 200 players are drawn for the inaugural Fresha tournament (Githunguri Dairy Farmers).

“It’s going to be an exciting tourney given that the course is in good shape and we have of late seen some very good scores at Club level especially from the mid-tier handicappers,” Ruiru Sports Club captain Antony Kamau says.

“This is one of the biggest tournaments this year and we are expecting some good turnout, with over 200 players already signed up” All eyes will be on Isaac Githinji, Chris Andrea and Angelus Maina who have recently been on top form. Fresha marketing manager, Carol Nyawira, said the sponsorship is part of Githunguri’s continued investment towards partnerships with communities to drive brand visibility and to increase its footprint.

Away in Eldoret, the nine-hole Eldoret Golf Club course hosts the first leg of the Barclays Bank of Kenya Golf Series where a field of 72 players were drawn despite the fact that two other events are set for Kitale and Nandi Bears also this weekend.

This weekend’s event is the first in an eight-tournament mini tour building up to the 2018 Barclays Kenya Open.

The “Barclays Golf Festival’’ will run from now until next March, culminating in the Barclays Kenya Open 2018.

The eight events on a regional basis will take place as follows: Coast region (Pwani Open), Rift Valley region (Rift Valley Open and Nakuru Open), and Mt Kenya region.

Other events will take place at Nyanza Club (Western region), Eastern region (Masaku Open) and two events to be held in Nairobi.

This weekend’s inaugural event at Eldoret will feature amateur golfers and is open to all the clubs in the north Rift region. However the consequent events will feature both amateur and professional players.

Eldoret captain Moses Tanui is still accepting more players through post entries.

“We still have a number of slots available for those who had not confirmed their entries,” said the former Boston Marathon champion who said the course was currently in an excellent condition.
“Our course now very nice and greens following the recent rains.”

Those drawn besides Tanui himself, include some of the club’s leading players such as Andrew Chelogoi, lady golfer Esther Chumo, Aaron Kitur, and club pro Boniface Simwa.

Meanwhile, fresh from the CIC Insurance tournament, which attracted a record field of 152 players, the par 73 Nakuru Golf Club is yet again a busy place this weekend as club chairman Richard Karori Kahuthu host the Chairman’s Prize  where over 200 players are drawn to battle it out for the top honours in the event being sponsored by Bank of Africa.

Club chairman Kahuthu says a lot will be at stake during the day besides the big list of prizes.

“We have made a lot of interesting things to make the event more interesting for the players,” he said.

Action will also be at the scenic Limuru Country Club course which host the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA). This is one of many events CBA has sponsored in Nyanza, Kiambu and Nanyuki, among other clubs.

Among those vying for the top prize are national team player John Karichu who is currently in his best form, although this weekend’s event being played in the stableford format, Karichu will have to collect all the birdies he can manage in order to feature on the prize list.