Africa-Press – Kenya. For the first time in history, the prestigious Safari Tour Golf Championship will tee off outside Kenya, officials announced yesterday.
Kenya Open tournament director, Patrick Obath said the season-opening event will take place at Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa from October 24– 28.
Speaking during the Tour’s season five launch at Muthaiga Golf Club, Obath remarked: “Our goal is to make the Safari Tour a significant part of the golfing calendar in the region and the African continent hence the concept to start the event in Uganda.”
Traditionally, the Tour has taken place in Kenya but Obath noted that the essence is to give it renewed impetus to catapult it to new heights.
“We plan to use partnerships to ensure we create a compelling value proposition to encourage more professional golfers to participate in the series,” he quipped.
Uganda Open, which has attracted over 15 Kenyan pros, will precede the Limuru Country Club leg from November 5-9.
Among the pros headed to Uganda include David Wakhu, Dismas Indiza, Greg Snow of Muthaiga, the Mudanyi siblings’ Nelson and Edwin, Thika man Simon Ngige and Eric Ooko among others.
The third leg of the Safari Tour will take place at the Vipingo Ridge course in Kilifi County on November 26-30.
After the Christmas break, the golfers will be heading to the serene Great Rift Valley Lodge & Golf Resort course from January 21-22.
Sigona Golf Club leg is scheduled for January 14th-18 followed by Karen Country Club on February 4-8. The final round in the series final at Muthaiga is scheduled for February 11-15.
Obath explained that the Safari Tour is a developmental event for African professional golfers, which is held annually in Kenya and the East African region between October to February.
The Tour will be used as a yardstick to select African players for the Kenya Open Championship, which returns to the prestigious DP World Tour for the umpteenth time.
Obath added that the 2022-2023 Safari Tour Season 5 Grand Finale at Muthaiga Golf Club in February 2023, will offer golfers an opportunity to experience the Magical Kenya Open Championship course conditions at Muthiga .
Obath noted that the dates for the 2023 Kenya Open and sponsors will be announced at a later date.
Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) chairman CJ Wangai on his part said the pro golfing fraternity is overly excited to return to top flight action after a long layoff.
Wangai said: “As pros, we are delighted and looking forward to returning to top-flight action. On behalf of pro golfers in Kenya, we are overly excited to rub shoulders with foreign golfers. Safari Tour started about four seasons back, and we have seen this as a platform to prepare competitively for the Magical Kenya Open.”
He added: “Safari Tour has helped us to build capacity in golf and therefore, we are looking forward to an even more competitive season going forward.”
In a related development, Obath announced the first two legs in 2022 will be sponsored by the Government of Kenya who are also the main sponsors of the Kenya Open.
“We will announce the other partners for the other legs once the formalities are complete. But we expect to have new partners for the events which are starting next year,” Obath continued.
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