NAIROBI, Kenya, March 9- The century-old Royal Nairobi Golf Club is hosting the final leg of the Tusker Malt Golf Carnival today.
A field of 220 players has been drawn in the four ball better ball format series with Royal captain, Darshan Mistry saying the key to high scores is to keep the ball in play and to be positive and confident around the greens.
“The course is recovering well from a long dry spell. The fairways are running hence helping high handicaps to hit the ball further but conversely any errant drives will also tend to go further off line making the second shot tougher.
“This also means that staying on the fairways pays dividends as lies in the rough can be pot luck. The greens are recovering from deep hollow tinning and a recent further light top dressing,” he added.
Among the single- figure handicappers on show are J. Kogo handicap 5, J. Sandu handicap 1 and Q. Bhatti handicap 5.
The Captain expects high scores from his draw explaining, “Being a four ball better ball competition, one expects the winners to score over 46. Hence it’s tough to predict who will have a good chance.
“It also depends on how the teams have combined; you need a combination of a low handicap as the anchor to secure you pars as much as possible and a high handicapper who can take advantage of his strokes but needs to be on form.”
The captain warns that there are subtle breaks in many greens especially where the pin is mounted near the front which can cause havoc with putting.
The Tusker malt Golf series which kicked off at the Kenya Railway Golf Club on September 22 last year aimed to give extensive and professional experience to amateur golfers to advance their expertise.
The Carnivore has visited 13 golf courses all over the country and has seen over 2000 golfers participating.
Speaking on last weekend’s tournament at the Karen Country Club, Tusker Brand Manager Wanyi Mwaura said that golf in Kenya needs to grow.
“We desire to make golf a popular game and boost the levels of professionalism in the courses. We want to see more Kenyan pros in the international scene and see them win and be recognized,” he added.
The Grand Finale of the Tusker Malt Carnival will be held in April 2011 at the Muthaiga Golf club. The top contenders for the top prize are looking forward to the Muthaiga as the winners of the Tusker malt Golf Carnival are expected to win an overseas golf trip to South Africa.
