Mr. Andy Watt, Tournament Director
On the 27th June 2019 the KCB Karen Masters tees off for its third year at Karen Country Club. It has become as intended, a truly African tournament; fully sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour who will be bringing 100 of their great players. The tournament will also feature 27 professional Golfers from Kenya and over 20 invited professionals from other African countries, as well as 4 leading Kenyan amateur golfers.
The focus of the event apart from showcasing world class golfing is to provide a platform for the development of the professional game on the continent. Towards this, we have a big contingent of Kenyan professionals and their invited professional guests from other African countries, battling it out with the pros from the Sunshine Tour for a share of the 2.2 million Rand prize-money and the right to wear the famous Karen Masters blue jacket. With an eye to the future we’re also including the youngsters with a junior competition and especially tailored coaching sessions.
KCB are the Title sponsor for the third year and have demonstrated even greater commitment to the tournament by covering not only the prize money but also working to bring in other partners to provide some great entertainment in the spectator’s village This is to ensure that there is plenty for everyone, not just during the day but also into the night. KCB are also supporting “The Road to The Karen Masters”, a series of qualifying events which have given even more opportunities to our local pros to compete and improve their game.
To all our sponsoring partners, I say thank you once again for we cannot put an event of this kind without your support. To both the golfing and partying public, I invite you to come to Karen between the 27th and 30th of June for great golf and a really fun time. Tickets are available on Ticket Sasa for 500 shillings per day or 1500 shillings for the full 4 days, including entry to the course and the village for the evening entertainment as well – it simply doesn’t get better than that! See you at the end of the month.
Selwyn Nathan, Sunshine Tour Director
The Sunshine Tour is excited to be back at Karen Country Club for the third edition of the KCB Karen Masters.
The inaugural tournament last year met and exceeded all our expectations, and that is in no small measure due to the commitment of the title sponsors. We owe a debt of gratitude to KCB Bank. Putting on prestigious golf tournaments like this takes commitment on many fronts, and KCB Bank has made it possible for this event to be one of the highlights of the Sunshine Tour’s venture into Africa. We appreciate the partnership with KCB Bank and we look forward to its continuation.
Because the Tour has a special link with Kenya, we truly feel at home here. A number of our top players won their maiden professional tournaments in the country ahead of going on to bigger things on the world stage, so being able to have this tournament in Nairobi is something of a homecoming.
We are thrilled to be able to give our players of another generation the chance to experience Kenya and all it has to offer, and we’re pleased that Kenyan players have the opportunity to play in a Sunshine Tour event which is the gateway to a firmer relationship.
To Karen Country Club: Your commitment has also been pivotal in making this happen as you reach out to other backers to build a world-class tournament on a wonderful facility. The players cannot speak highly enough of the course.
To those other backers: Everyone is making a valuable contribution to growing the game of golf on the African continent, and that growth is something that is close to the heart of the Sunshine Tour. We thank you.
We look forward to tournament week, but we equally are appreciative of a long-term partnership that continues to take golf in Africa forward to its place in the sun on the world stage.