The Magical Kenya Open (MKO) is the oldest golf tournament in East Africa and by far the most prestigious golf event in Africa outside South Africa. The country gets to host some of the best golfers on the blink of being an international household name. Some of such names who have played MKO in the past and ended up household names are Seve Ballesteros (78), Thomas Bjorn (95), Trevor Immelman (00), Henrik Stenson (00) Eduardo Molinari (07) among many others.
The Magical Kenya Open was elevated from a European Challenge Tour event to a full European Tour event in 2019. That move ensured the event is televised live to more than 400 million viewers around the world. This alone puts Kenya on the map as a golfing destination and allows the country to market its tourism sector globally.
However, success for Kenyan golfers has been hard to come by especially after it was elevated to a European Tour event. Jacob Okello(98) is the only Kenyan who came close to winning MKO the last 30 years. He was beaten in a playoff after a strong showing. When MKO was a Challenge Tour event, several Kenyan pros made the cut consistently. After its elevation to a European Tour event, the trend has been that only one or two Kenyans make the cut. Njoroge Kibugu, an amateur junior, was the only Kenyan to make the cut in the 2022 MKO. While the professional highlight in recent years being Simon Ngige’s top 25 finish in 2019.
With the 2023 Magical Kenya Open about to start, Kenyan golf fans are at it again with the same discussions of years past. Corporates are also at it with the same strategies of years past. The Kenyan pros and amateurs face the same demons, pressures, and expectations as they fly the Kenyan flag.
As a popular saying goes, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Undoubtedly, the golfers representing the country are talented and capable of performing well. The same is true in the past. But the question that begs to be asked is what has hindered the performance in the past and what’s being done differently this year to help them perform better.
As this week starts, I will attempt to delve into reasons I believe we fail to prepare our best talents for the limelight that comes with MKO. In my own opinion, there are two reasons. Exposure and preparation or lack of it and the sponsorship model. Stay tuned as I delve deeper into it.
