‘Royal’ clubs to receive Tannahill Shield invites

Visiting teams — mostly from “Royal” clubs — will soon be invited for Kenya’s top and most popular inter-club event, the Tannahill Shield, whose 93rd edition will be played this weekend at the century old Royal Nairobi Golf Club.

This will probably happen when the annual tournament marks its 95th anniversary in 2020 when the Royal Nairobi Golf Club will invite teams mostly from the “Royal” clubs globally.

But for a start, the club is working towards including a team from Central or the Mount Kenya region which has not been represented in the annual tournament.

Briefing journalists on preparations for this weekend’s tournament, club captain Sunny Babra said the Tannahill Shield, which attracts the top amateur players from Kenya’s various clubs, has grown over the years to being the top amateur tournament in Kenya.

“The Tannahill Shield has grown from such a humble beginning over the years to become Kenya’s major inter-club amateur championship and we believe time has come for it to gain an international status,” said Babra.

He said no team has been invited to represent the Mount Kenya region and that a delegation from Royal Nairobi Golf Club will next year visit the clubs in the region to discuss the possibility of a combined team  from the region playing in the championship.

He said Royal Nairobi Golf Club was all set to host the 93rd edition this weekend where nine teams will be battling for the prestigious Shield.

These are hosts Royal Nairobi Golf Club, defending champions Muthaiga, Limuru, Sigona, Vet Lab, a combined team from Western and the Mombasa team, which draws its players from the coast clubs.

Also included is the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club team which comes in place of the relegated Kenya Railway Golf Club.

Usually, the team finishing last, save for Mombasa which is a sister club of Royal, is relegated. Babra said this year the tournament will be sponsored by Jamii Telkom Limited, Baseline Architects limited, Carlsberg, Amazon Consultants and Glenlivet.

The captain said he expects a stiff competition this year with the teams having started preparing for the event over the past one month.

“As a club we are most grateful to Jamii Telkom for having agreed to sponsor the event for the next three years. I can assure participating that the course at the moment is in an excellent condition compared to last year when it was so dry,” said Babra.