Big boost for King of the Course golf tournament
The 2019 King of the course champion Larry Wambua celebrates with his trophy. He will defend his title on January 4, 2020 in Machakos. PHOTO | LARRY NGALA |
What you need to know:
- ICEA has converted its annual series into “King Of The Course" golf series.
- The Machakos King of the Course golf tournament concept was re-branded in 2015 having been previously been held as the “Year Opener" since 2005.
The popular Machakos Golf Club’s King of the Course golf tournament will now be a golf series, thanks to ICEA Lion Insurance Group.
ICEA has converted its annual series to “King Of The Course" golf series.
The Machakos King of the Course golf tournament concept was re-branded in 2015 having been previously been held as the “Year Opener" since 2005.
Peter Mukuria, the ICEA Lion Marketing Director, said the company has formalised its annual golfing calendar into a classic golf series dubbed the “King of The Course” golf series which has been a joint initiative with Machakos Golf Club whose focus was on building regional networs, development of the game of golf and wealth creation.
Over the last three years, the King of The Course event at Machakos Golf Club has become a regional showcase for amateur golfers coming from Kenya, Malawi and Uganda.
“This for us was a great opportunity which we thought it was worth for us getting involved as the event at Machakos has become very popular. What we have done is to extend it further to other clubs in the country where we have been hosting some of our events," said Mukuria.
Mukuria reiterated ICEA Lion’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, golf development and national and regional networking.
The series will have two legs, with the first leg starting with the Machakos King of The Course event on January 4, followed by the second event at Ruiru Sports Club on January 11 and the King of the Course Nanyuki Sports Club course in January 18.
There will be a break there after, with the second leg starting at the Links Mombasa Golf Club in April and later on to Nandi Bears Club in Nandi County.
The dates of the events will be announced later.
Machakos Golf Club captain Joe Mboya, who is the convenor of the series, said each event will produce its King of the Course, who along with four or so other prize winners will qualify for the Mega King of the Course grand finale prize in the finals to be held at Machakos Golf Club in January 2021.
“We are very excited with the new development of the King of The Course series," said Mboya.
The captain confirmed that more than 20 regional and international players are expected to participate in the series.
“We expected to have a big number of players from Malawi play in particular the Ruiru event," added Mboya, who said so far over 50 Machakos members had already listed their names for the January 4 event.
This year’s (2019) King of the Course title was won by former Machakos Golf Club captain Larry Wambua who will be defending his title in the Machakos leg. The single figure handicapper is among those who have already listed their names to play.
