MKO Golf: This Is What Fans Should Expect At Muthaiga- Absa Bank Director Muthui
Kenyan pro golfers Mohit Mediratta (L) and Daniel Nduva (R) with Absa Bank Kenya Consumer Banking Director Moses Muthui during the pro’s sponsorship announcement ahead of the 2022 Magical Kenya Open in Muthaiga. PHOTO/ JONAH ONYANGO
NAIROBI, Kenya- From next Thursday, the championship par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club will be a beehive of activities in all fronts as the 56th edition of the Magical Kenya Open golf tournament tees off.
Over 16000 spectators are expected to grace the four-day spectacle that has attracted the top best 144 hard hitters from across the globe.
The premier golf event is already projected to attract 1.8 billion eyeballs from around the world, which is an increment from last year’s 1.5 billion viewers.
There will be lots of entertainment as spectators’ troop to the venue to quench the golf thirst that normally grip the country every season at this time of the year.
Plenty of food, drinks, music, airshows and endless partying will be some of the thrillers expected to dominate the cutthroat four-day championship.
“We will have lots of fun and a whole lot of lifestyle around the tournament. Families should seize this opportunity for picnics, outings and get together,” Absa Bank Kenya Consumer Banking Director Moses Muthui told Standard Sports.
Absa and Sports Ministry are among the many brands that are not only supporting the premier golf championship financially, but have secured strategic zones, infront of the historic 13th hole, famous for its hole-in one slot challenge, to view the golf showpiece.
“We expect a very stiff competition that will excite fans out of their minds, this owes to the star-studded field in the entry list received this year,” Muthui underlined.
“At our tent and at the Games Village where the parties will be endless, there will be a variety of entertainments for visitors; from food, music to fashion. Entrepreneurs are also expected to showcase their wares in their fields,
“There is great hospitality expected around the tournament which is expected to leave a significant and long-lasting impact, away from the USD2.5 Million (Sh 322 million) prize money that a few players will go home with,” Muthui underscored.
Muthui is glad that they have been part and parcel of the DP World Tour for the last 14 years and this has seen their leading financial institution pump in Sh 1.4 billion to support the MKO and other golf tournaments around the country.
“This year, we have sunk Sh60 Million into the MKO which is in line with our theme ‘ Beyond the Swing’, a program that seeks those stories that go beyond the fairways. Those sports stories that touch on entrepreneurship and skills,” he indicated, adding that “Away from golf, we are happy to be very big in athletics as we are the title sponsors of the Sirikwa Classic athletics championship. We are also yet to announce our support for the Kip Keino Classic.”
Muthui is urging the private sector and the government to come together to support local pros who have teetered in their careers in the last one year after their national golf series, the Safari Tour, went under.
“We are contemplating coming up with a circuit to engage and keep the pros busy, it should be a year-long series to keep them engaged up to the 2026 MKO,” he stated.
Muthui also hinted that they might support some of the local pros in this year’s MKO as they have done in the previous seasons.
For Kenya to post impressive results in the MKO in the near future, Muthui is of the opinion that golf talents should be nurtured as early as from primary schools, starting with the caddies children.
” Best talents to groom are the children whose parents are caddies because they see, feel and grow up with the game in their household,” he highlighted.
Kenya’s representative at this year MKO
Pros
1.Njoroge Kibugu (Muthaiga)
2.Greg Snow (Muthaiga)
3.David Wakhu (Golf Park)
4.Samuel Njoroge (Kenya Railway)
5.Dismas Indiza (Mumias)
6.Mohit Mediratta (Sigona)
7.Riz Charania (Windsor)
8.Edwin Mudanyi (Karen Country Club)
Amateurs
1.Michael Karanga (Kiambu)
2 John Lejirma (Kenya Railway)
3.William Odek (Nyali)
4.Michael Alunga (Uganda).
5. Adel Balala (Nyali)
Juniors
1.Shashwat Harish (Junior Golf Foundation)
