A field of over 50 golfers is expected to take to the course on Monday ,31st March battling for qualifying slots in the, East Africa Swing, the Sunshine Development Tour which will be held at Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort.
The qualifying event also known as the, Q-School, will be a four-day event where top ten finishers will qualify for the final leg of the qualifiers scheduled 8th-11th April in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Aprize purse of Ksh.1Million has been set aside for the top performers.
Amongst the golfers registered to play at the Q-School includes the 2025 Magical Kenya Open top Kenyan finisher, Riz Charania, Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow, Nyali Golf and Country Club’s Daniel Nduva, the Kibugu brothers – Mutahi and Njoroge, 1998 Kenya Open runner-up Jacob Okello, Alfred Nandwa, Michael Karanga, Samuel Chenge, Mohit Mediratta, Mike Kisia, David Wakhu, and Erick Ooko.
The tournament has also attracted players from the East African Countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda.
Among them include Celestin Nsanzuwera, Byiringiro Jacques, Nsabimana Aloys, and Benjamin Mukisa from Rwanda; David Kamulindwa and Otile Ronald from Uganda; Nuru Mollel and Isaac Wanyeche from Tanzania; and Nkurunziza Salum from Burundi.
The Sunshine Development tour consist of 10 to 15 events annually and at stake is the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, which are crucial for player advancement, and essential for Olympic Games qualifiers.
Qualification to play golf at the Olympic Games is based on OWGR, with the top 15 players in the world automatically earning a spot.
Thereafter, players are eligible based on world rankings with a maximum of up to two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top 15.
As such, the Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing offers Kenya, and her neighbours, a pathway to Olympic Games golf qualification that would have previously been out of reach owing to lack of enough tournaments offering OWGR points in the region.
The Q-School is a mandatory pre-requisite for earning Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points on the East Africa Swing.
The top 50 finishers at the Q-School will share the KES 1 million prize purse, with the overall winner banking KES 180,220. “Ordinarily Q-Schools don’t offer Prize money, but we made a decision at IMG Kenya to kick start the Tour with an incentive for the professional golfers,” said Peter Gacheru, IMG Kenya CEO.
