AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA National Golf team skipper, Victor Joseph has singled Magical Kenya Golf Open as his top priority when golf returns to action after the end of coronavirus scare.
The Magical Open is part of the European Tour and will be staged in Kenya for the second consecutive season with its winner bagging KSh20.5m (about 400m).
Having a global level status, the tournament remains Joseph’s biggest career achievement if he wins, therefore he is forced to train intensively to beat top-class opponents.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam, Joseph said he was delighted to see the tournament, which was earlier scheduled to tee off in March, 2020, shifted to November this year due to coronavirus threat.
Joseph, who is also the national golf team skipper, said he has now a five-month drill until the tournament tees off in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Before travelling to Kenya, Joseph said he trains intensively in five other courses countrywide apart from his home course at Dar es Salaam Gymkhana.
Joseph was the first Tanzanian to win Kenya Amateur Open Golf Championship that also qualified him to play in Magical Kenya Open.
Joseph won the tournament after grossing the tournament’s best score of 215 strokes to beat his closest challenger Samuel Njoroge from Kenya by a single shot.
Kenya Open Golf Limited KOGL tournament director, Patrick Obath confirmed to that they are in talks with the European Tour.
“We are negotiating a date in November though we are still waiting for a statement on the second half of the season where we expect the Magical Kenya Open will feature,’’ Obath said.
The Magical Kenya Open 2020, sponsored by Magical Kenya and presented by Absa Bank, was to take place from March 12 to 15, just a week after the Qatar Masters.
Apart from the local Professionals, Robinson Chinhoi of Zimbabwe and Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh, were the two regional players who qualified to play at the Magical Kenya Open through the 2019/2020 edition of the Safari Tour.
KOGL has also extended invitations to two South African players, Toto Thimba (winner of the 2019 Karen Masters) and Jayden Schaper, to come and play at this year’s tournament.
Among the star attractions at this year’s tournament, include the last five winners, namely; Guido Migliozzi (2019), Lorenzo Gagli (2018), Aaron Rai (2017), Sebastian Soderberg (2016) and Haydn Porteous (2015).
