Coca-Cola Kenya has announced that it will sponsor the Kenya Open Golf Tournament to the tune of Ksh. 5.6 million. The company has signed a deal the organizers, Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL), making them the exclusive hydration partner for the tournament that is slated to take place on 14th to 17th March at Karen Country Club.
The company’s water brand Keringet will be the event’s official water hydration provider.
Kenya Open will take place over 4 days and will see elite golfers led by Ryder Cup winning skipper Thomas Bjorn descend on the Par 72 Karen Country Club course. Kenya will be represented by a team of six scratch amateurs selected from the 2018 Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (formerly the GOTY) and 12 professionals. Nine of the Kenyans were picked from the recently concluded inaugural Safari Tour Golf Series.
Kenya Open is an annual golf tournament that was founded in 1967 and run by the Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL). It has been an event on the European based Challenge Tour schedule since 1991. The tournament was added to the European Tour starting this year. This happened after the prize money for the annual golf tournament was increased to €1.1 million. The Kenya Open title has been won by players such as Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Ken Brown, Christy O’Connor Jr, and Trevor Immelman. The most successful player is England’s Maurice Bembridge, who recorded three victories between 1968 and 1979.
Recently, Barclays Bank Kenya has announced sponsorship of the golf tournament to the tune of Ksh. 220 million. The sponsorship funds by Barclays will be split between operational costs and marketing of the event. Barclays has been a sponsor of the Kenya Open tournament for the last eight years, six of those as title sponsors.