USD610,668 up for grabs at 2018 Kenya Open as golf tournament marks 50th anniversary

The 2018 Kenya Open Golf Championship is set to be bigger and better.

For a start, organisers have increased the prize money kitty to Sh62.5m (Euros 500,000) to make the lucrative event on the European Challenge Tour calendar more attractive.

This follows President Uhuru Kenyatta directive during the 2017 tournament for the organisers to raise the bar of the Championship, increase participation of local players and attract a higher caliber of players from across the globe.

Barclay Bank of Kenya mad the announcement during the official launch of the 2018 Barclays Kenya Open.

“This year we are investing Sh82 million ($820,000) towards title sponsorship and publicity for the Barclays Kenya Open” Barclay Kenya CEO, Jeremy Awori said.

Mr. Awori credited Kenya Open in raising the profile of Kenya as a great golfing destination in the past 50 years.

“Barclay Kenya Open presents the country as a tourist destination as golfers from all over the world come to participate” he said.

Cabinet secretary for Tourism, Najib Balala who was in attendance announced that President Kenyatta has committed $1 million to Kenya Open over the next 5 years.

At the conclusion of the 2017 Barclays Kenya Open, where he was captured openly ogling a bottle of Champagne, Uhuru announced that his government would work together with the Kenya Open Golf Limited, partners and sponsors to raise the standard of the Championship and by extension the standard of golf talent development in Kenya.

English professional golfer of a Kenyan born mother, Aaron Rai after he completed a 72-hole total of 17 under par 267, to win 2017 Barclays Kenya Open golf title, by three shots at Muthaiga Golf Club’s par 71 course.