This beautiful country called Kenya – A golfers perspective (Part 2):

We left for Nandi Bears later that evening after the presentation and dinner at Kitale Club. It is a distance of 130 kms through Eldoret and Kapsabet through tea country. It was night time so we didn’t see much though we went on partaking of our drinks along the way trading general insults and dirty stories that only men can do all through the journey until one by one we dozed off fitfully to awake on arrival in Nandi Bears Club at midnight greeted by cold highland weather and a bar full of members finalising their golfing event of the day at the 19th hole on conclusion of a big tournament earlier. The club has limited and quite rudimentary accommodation facilities so only 5 of us were to spend the night at the club with the majority spending the night at a hotel in the nearby Nandi Hills town.

The next morning we arose bright and early from a somewhat fitful sleep with accusations of some getting lost among the tea plantations when answering the call of nature and calling their wives to rescue them from the Nandi Bear when they couldn’t find their way back to the room while others clutching onto their roommates in a bid to ward off the cold thanks to the generous whiskey and beer bought by the appreciative members of the club who were aware of our arrival and had scheduled a casino game the next day. Breakfast behind us and our colleagues’ arrival at the club from the hotel another day of golf beckoned.

Nandi Bears Club is one of those clubs that is beyond description because one cannot do justice by describing it because seeing is truly believing! It is a beautiful club set atop a hill with the 9 hole golf course spread out around you and below you. The view across the Nandi Escarpment is breathtakingly beautiful across the green tea plantations as far as the eye can see. The golf course and surroundings are perpetually green on account of regular rain that falls in any tea growing region around the world. The designers of the course seem to have got it right first time and due to the hilly terrain you are mostly playing your ball above or below your feet which can be quite daunting if you are not used to it. The course has a lot of indigenous trees and bushes resplendent in their majestic canopies that sometimes overhang the golf course making a shot tricky but nonetheless the thick spongy grass makes it a joy to play on.

All the tee positions for the 1st and 2nd nines are placed differently giving you a different perspective to the course with the 5th and 16th holes leaving little margin for error on your tee shot because of the impossibly small window to thread your ball through. Despite the daily rain storm that last upto 30 minutes for which play was delayed as people took shelter in the little bandas scattered around the course, the majority managed to finish play on this delightful course. Presentation over, a late lunch partaken off and winnings shared out among the predominantly Nandi Bears winners and a drink from the captain we were on our way for the last lap of our four course golf weekend to Kericho Club via Kibos a predominantly sugar cane growing region in Kisumu County.

It seemed that we always left for our next destination in the late afternoon meaning that we never got to view the scenery of our beautiful country during the day and it was on this leg that it was suggested that on our next tour we would be leaving for our next destination in the early morning so as to get to see our country, get to the next club in the late morning and then play golf before going to bed and then leaving the next morning for our next club destination an idea that was supported by the majority on this tour.

We got to Kericho town at 10.00 pm after an uneventful drive and checked into our hotel rooms whereupon those wishing to do so were free to go to bed while the adventurous ones went out on the town for some night time sightseeing. The hotel where we were to spend the night is a family themed hotel on bed and breakfast basis and serves no alcoholic beverages. The management however has no objection to you partaking of the stuff in your room so long as you do not disturb the rest of the guests. It’s called Sunshine Hotel and is located along the main road and 3 minutes’ drive from Kericho Club our venue for our final day of golf. It has a great ambience, good rooms and reasonable prices and the food is also good.

The next morning having partaken of a hearty breakfast and our bags packed and loaded onto the bus we set off for Kericho Club with some choosing to walk the short distance to the club. Kericho Club is a beautiful 9 hole golf course and like all the clubs we had visited thus far is perennially green and located in two sections where you cross a busy tarmac road to get to the other side. It also has room facilities next to the main club house. A casino inclusive of lunch was on the cards and in progress on the day that we arrived and we decided to enter it in addition of our own bet.

Being right in the centre of Kericho town, the golf course abuts residential and commercial areas of town and can be quite noisy when compared to Eldoret, Kitale and Nandi Bears relative tranquility. In addition the out of bounds on the golf course is a distinct reality given the proximity to the adjacent tarmac road and the commercial and residential areas surrounding the course as mentioned.

The golf course itself is more or less of a flat topography but with some serious roughs and tree groves that can be hazardous to those unable to stay on the fairways. It is cleverly built with hidden greens and bunkers that you cannot see on your approach until you literally fall into one. During our visit they were in the process of changing their greens to bent grass greens and hence some of the holes were played on temporary greens.

The last hole – No.9 or No.18 – is the signature hole for the course and features a water hazard that must have been designed by a comic at heart because it faces the club house and therefore all shots onto the green if too crisp have the potential to send members scampering for cover. Naturally this means that many approach shots onto the green are played with caution inevitably ending up in the drink. A total of 7 balls from those in the tour found their way into this hazard with at least four being from the drop zone alongside the water hazard. So near yet so far was a euphemism that was to ring loud and true for some who dropped valuable shots on this hole!!

Kericho also rains a lot at about 3.00 pm and as the clock struck this hour it came down in buckets and this time for a good hour continuously and furiously with accompanying winds and thunder but luckily we had all finished our round of golf. We are told that they tend to start competitions early to avoid the daily dose of rain in the late afternoon though the well-drained soil tends to clear the puddles quite quickly. So having partaken of the late chemsha meal, showered, changed and with a drink in the system it was time to leave only to discover that there were some amongst us who had played a good round and were amongst the casino winners forcing up to wait for the cash to be dished out and delaying our departure to 5.00 pm or so.

Our weekend of golf was over just like that. It had been a huge success and had accomplished our objectives of playing at 4 different courses, getting to know one another, cementing lasting bonds of friendship and knowing hitherto unknown things about people. We tried to accomplish this by getting people within the group to play golf with others within the group, sharing accommodation facilities where necessary and with different people each night and having meals and a drink together. The laughter, the jibes, the swearing, cursing and insults were on the way back to Nairobi less restrained then on the way to Eldoret so comfortable had people become with one another and the writing was on the wall that (not if but when) we should do the trip again in future.

Our drivers on the trip were part of the group and had been excellent in the execution of the duties choosing to remain sober when it was their turn to drive the next day while the rest made utter fools of ourselves in the bus. The return trip though Sotik and Narok took us the better part of 5 hours to Limuru Club where elated we disembarked packed our stuff away in out cars, had dinner and then left for our respective homes exhausted but elated to have been part of the first Western Tour.