Kenya - Muthaiga Golf Club re-opens its US $ 1 million refurbishment on the 30th of June 2004
After two years of intensive work on its golf course, Muthaiga Golf Club, the Home of the Kenya Open, once again will be the number one championship golf course in East and Central Africa, when it opens the front nine this Wednesday the 30th of June.
Muthaiga Golf Club opened as a nine hole golf club in 1913 as part of the prestigous Muthaiga Country Club. In 1925 the golf members decided to run the Golf Club as a seperate entity and opened a new club house in 1927. In 1949 the browns were converted into greens and the golf course extended to 18 holes. Since 1967 Muthaiga Golf Club is the Home of the Kenya Open Golf Championship, which is part of the safari circuit of the European PGA Challenge Cup. Past winners include Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Vijay Singh. Only in 1968 and in 2004 Karen Golf & Country Club were hosting this most important event in the Kenya Golf Calendar.
The members and the professionals felt the need to modernize the course, since with new equipment and better players the course was not up-to-date anymore .The South African Course Architect Peter Markovitch was asked to redesign the course, make new greens and bunkers, add water features and make it more challenging as well. Peter Markovitch is the course architect of Arabella, which was in the top 10 courses of South Africa, within one year after opening. Muthaiga has now many lakes and is a really beautiful parklands course and a joy to play for professional and amateur golfers alike. This US $ 1 million refurbishment took two years to completion- it was done within budget and time frame.
This exclusive private membership golf club is not only the Home of the Kenya Open, but also of the Kenya Golf Union, of which H.E. President Mwai Kibaki is the Patron. Apart from the membership of the President, 12 Members of Parliament are members, but at the same time visitors are welcome, though advance bookings are required. For more info www.kenya-golf-safaris.com