Riz Charania during The 56th edition of the Magical Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club on Thursday, February, 20, 2025. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]
Kenya had a poor show in the just concluded ="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/amp/golf/article/2001512596/why-this-years-magical-kenya-open-was-like-none-other">2025 Magical Kenya Open< (MKO) golf championship held at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi.
No local player made the cut for the second year running, out of the 13 pros and six amateurs who flew the county’s flag in the showpiece that attracted 150 players from across the globe.
The best placed local was Riz Charania on three over par 145 followed by amateur golfer Shashwat Harish on four over par 146. The tournament was won by Jacques Kruyswijk of South African who fired 18 under par 266.
Charania attributed Kenya’s lacklustre performance to lack of high-level competitive tournaments to expose players to high-pressure environment to develop resilience.
“We have just one major tournament to look forward to each year. The pressure is immense, expectations are high, and fans want us to perform well,” said Charania.
“Between the last Kenya Open and this one, we did not have enough competitive play. While we had a few events, they are far from sufficient to match golfers who compete at a high level for 30 to 40 weeks a year,” he said.
Charania’s remarks has prompted Kenya Vision 2030 to call upon fresh evaluation of golf in the country.
The Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat strongly believes the game, and other sports, can be taken to the next level if the private sector is involved.
“We should review past efforts in golf, identify existing gaps and implement strategic solutions to drive the game and promote sports in the country,” Kenya Vision 2030 Director General Kenneth Mwige told Standard Sports.
“We cannot keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. We have to go back to the drawing board, rip the rule book completely and re-look at golf in Kenya from a clean slate,” he said.
Mwige called upon private sector players to scale up investments in sports owing to their position as the main drivers of the economy.
He noted that 70 percent of the implementation of priority programmes and projects under their mandate is a preserve of the private sector while 30 percent the government.
“By the structure of Kenya Vision 2030, every three shillings of the government should be matched by seven shillings of the private sector,” he said.
Mwige emphasised that sports tourism is a rapidly expanding industry across the world and highlighted the need to position sports as a viable career path for young people.
The Secretariat held its second sponsors and stakeholders auction in the run up to the MKO 2025 to raise funds to support local and regional golfers in the tournament.
Mwige noted that the idea is to create a market for not just golf but sports as a whole.