Big field drawn for AHF golf tourney

Over 200 golfers will converge on the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club course Saturday morning for the third edition of the annual AHF (Aids Healthcare Foundation) Chairman’s Golf Challenge.

The tournament, which is open to club members and guests, is aimed at creating Aids awareness to the elite class and is being staged at Muthaiga for the first time.

Over the past two years, it has been taking place at Kiambu Golf Club where AHF chairman Dr Stephen Karau is also a member.

And AHF Kenya, which is also staging the event to celebrate its 10th anniversary, hopes to make the event even bigger and better over the coming years.

Among those drawn to tackle the Muthaiga course, which has for many years being the home of Kenya’s premier golf event- the Kenya Open, include Karau himself, Dr Wamae Maranga and Samuel Kinyanjui, who is the AHF Country Director.

Also drawn are players like Sammy Muriu and Larry Njue from Kiambu, while most of the club’s leading golfers such as Kumar Dhall, Evans Vitisia, Wanjohi Kangangi, Selest Kilinda, veteran David Farrar, George Njuguna Njugu and Finance PS Kamau Thugge are drawn to battle it out for the top prizes being offered.

“We are overly excited to grace the home of golf’ (Muthaiga) and this is one of the concepts we have had over the years as part of the strategies of engaging industry captains in HIV interventions, including highlighting avenues for Public Private partnerships," said Dr Karau.

He said the AHF Kenya Chairman’s tourney seeks to leverage on sports to reach out to the high end Kenyans, captains of industry and senior government officials with a message of HIV/AIDS.

“After years at Kiambu, we are finally at the home of golf and hope to visit several other courses countrywide. Standards have been set for the event and only the sky’s the limit,” added Karau.

AHF deals with HIV prevention, treatment and advocacy. They conduct free HIV testing, provide free condoms and treatment to all Kenyans. They currently operate in nine counties namely Nairobi, Makueni, Mombasa, Kilifi, Homabay, Kisii, Kwale, Muranga and Turkana, serving more than 51,000 clients in the HIV care and treatment program.

During Saturday's tournament, health wellness services including blood sugar, Body Mass Index (BMI) as well as HIV testing will be offered at the club, Muthaiga Police station and Mathare area.

Meanwhile, Ruiru Sports Club will host the Corner Crescent golf tournament which has also attracted a big field.

Club captain Peter Mwaura says some fabulous prizes will be at stake during the event in addition to the usual Nyama Choma.