BHAVI SHAH MOTIVATED BY VIPINGO OUTING

Nyali Golf and Country Club’s lady professional golfer, Bhavi Shah -the only lady pro golfer from Kenya to feature at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open presented by M-Pesa- has said that her participation at the tournament has inspired her to improve on her game to enhance her competitive edge.

Bhavi, who finished her challenge at the tournament in 98th position with a score of 23-over par 167 after two rounds, said she relished the opportunity of having played a Ladies European Tour event, adding that it was a great experience to interact and learn from some of the top lady golfers from across the world.

“I have learnt that I need to work on my competitive edge because it has been a few years since I competed. It has been two and a half years since I played on a proper event, (and even though) I have been playing at the men’s events, it is not the same thing playing against your own companions,” she said.

 She added: “It is a really great opportunity especially because we have never had any lady professional events in the country, so I think this is really good. It feels great. The biggest take out for me is having had a chance to play on a Ladies European Tour event. Aside from the LPGA, this is the second biggest tour in the world for women. So, to have had a chance just to play on that with some of the girls who have been playing it for five to six years was really amazing.”

Speaking about her time on the course, she said the weather played a significant role in her performance, adding that the heat made it difficult for her to produce the perfect result.

“It has been tough as it is very hot out here. I think I overdid it in my practice because I was so anxious since I wanted to play some good golf. So, after the first day, I felt like I had a bit of heat exhaustion. So, you have to stay hydrated out here and probably have a lot of electrolytes as well, which I didn’t do. Next time I will be better prepared for that,” she said.

Commenting on what needs to be done to ensure that more Kenyan lady golfers are playing more competitively in the future, she said there is definitely a need to nurture the young talent in the country.

“There is a lot that we can do. We need to start from base level and get a lot more younger girls to play and get them involved in club events to start with. The Kenya Ladies Golf Union can also do a lot better in terms of, when they play their GOTY (Golfer of the Year) series, there should be a lot more younger players.”

Buttressing her point, she gave her own experience while playing in South Africa in 2010-2011 where there was a pool of 120 girls with average ages of between 24 and 25 years with single handicaps. “I think there is a lot more to do, but this is a great start,” she said.

She expressed her gratitude for putting together the tournament and gave a special mention to U.COM, the event promoters, for extending an invitation to take part in the tournament.

“The sponsors have done a great job putting together the event. U.COM, the organisers, gave me the invite to play since I did not qualify through the European Tour. So, I am really grateful for that.”