Final push for Kenya Open slots is on

Three-time Challenge Tour winner, Argentinian Alvaro Velasco and England’s Oliver Wilson are among a field of 42 local and international professional golfers who will be chasing three Kenya Open slots at Vet Lab Sports Club on Monday.

This will be their last chance for any of  the pros to book their ticket to Muthaiga Golf Club for the first round of the 500,000 Euros (Sh62.5 million) Barclays Kenya Open whose first round is set for Thursday morning.

This is the first time in the 50 year history that a Pre-Q has been organised to fill in some available slots in the open, pointing to the growing popularity of the tournament.

It is common practice for pros to pre-qualify in most of the tour events in the world. It is also an opportunity for some of the local players who failed to qualified in the six Professional Golfers of Kenya-organised events where 18 pros made their way to the richest event in the 2018 Challenge Tour.

At the weekend, Kenya Open tournament director Patrick Obath said the pre-qualifier was necessitated by the huge interest at this year’s tournament, adding that it offers fans an opportunity to watch a prelude of the Kenya Open before it tees-off on Thursday.

“This year, we’ll be having a pre-qualification event at the Vet Lab Sports Club whose purpose is to select professional players who will fill in the final three slots for this year’s championship. Locally trials like this are only seen in athletics, but globally, all top golf events stage pre-qualifiers events,” he said.

He added: “The pre-qualifier will also give golf fans also a chance to watch the professionals in action ahead of the main event on Thursday and this event will give Vet Lab a brilliant opportunity to see how their new 18-hole golf course will hold up against some of the best golf professionals in the European Challenge Tour.”

Besides Oliver Wilson and Alvaro Velasco, other top pros who will be parading at the long Vet Lab course will be Frenchman Victor Riu who is also a Challenge Tour winner.Locally, Nakuru’s Richard Ainley, Muthaiga’s Nelson Mudanyi, Windsor’s David Opati and Eldoret’s Boniface Simwa will be relying on their local knowledge of the challenging 18-hole layout at the Vet Lab Sports Club to qualify for the Kenya Open; they will face stiff competition from strong and experienced European journeymen.

There are 12 Kenyans in all, two from Tanzania, Ugandan, South Africa,  Zimbabwe and one Malawian are among African pros due to battle it out against the foreign contingent of players.

The high number of foreign players at the pre-qualification event shows the new stature of the Kenya Open as an annual global golf event.