H.E. First Lady Margaret Kenyatta graced the finals of this year’s Magical Kenya Ladies Open golf tournament at the PGA Baobab Course in Vipingo Ridge, Kilifi County.
The Tournament is the season opener for the 2022 Ladies European Tour and brought to Kenya 96 elite golfers from 23 countries from across the world.
Germany’s Esther Henseleit retained her Magical Kenya Ladies Open after making a dramatic comeback on the tournament’s final round. Esther carded a round of 70 to end her campaign at the event with a 2-under par 286 score to claim the championship. Henseleit, who won the inaugural Magical Kenya Ladies Open tournament in 2019, took home 45,000 Euros (approximately KES5.8 million) for her efforts.
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, who presented the Magical Kenya Ladies Open winners trophy to Esther Henseleit, said the 2020 ranking of Kenya as the best golf destination in Africa at the World Golf Awards was a vote of confidence in the country’s growing profile as a global golfing destination.
“It is an honour for Kenya to be hosting this prestigious Ladies Open after a two-year interruption following the Covid-19 Pandemic. We are proud that in 2020, Kenya was voted as the best golf destination in Africa at the World Golf Awards. This tournament, therefore, is another indication of Kenya’s diligence and commitment to hosting world-class sporting events,” she said.
Founded in 1978, the Ladies European Tour is starting-off in an African country for the first time in its long history.
In their remarks, Sports CS Amina Mohammed and her tourism counterpart Najib Balala encouraged Kenya’s private sector to invest more in the Magical Kenya Ladies Open. “I urge all sponsors of this tournament to up this figure because it is essential that we appreciate the international golfers who come to play here. As the government and title sponsors of the tournament, we shall continue to support this tournament and pledge also to increase our money for this event,” said CS Amina.
While listing several other international sporting events that will held in Kenya this year, CS Balala said his ministry had prioritized sports tourism as a key product. “We want this event to be an annual event that continues even beyond this government. We have laid the foundation, and I urge that the funding is raised so that the tournament can attract more international players golfers to come and play.”
The tournament was sponsored by The Government of Kenya – through the Ministry of Sports, Ministry of Tourism, and the Sports Fund – Huawei; Safaricom’s M-Pesa; Johnnie Walker; and Centum. It was jointly organized by the U.Com event and Vipingo Ridge and is part of the Ladies European Tour.