There’s a queer old difference between Nairobi and Oban. Then again?
The Kenyan capital’s name means Cool Water in the native Maasai tongue. Have a plunge in the Firth of Lorn at this time of year, meanwhile, and you’ll probably chitter and curse something similar about the waters off Oban.
For local golfer Robert MacIntyre, this week should have led to him swapping Argyll & Bute for eastern Africa to begin his first full year as a professional in the Challenge Tour’s lucrative Barclays Kenya Open, which starts today. The best laid plans, however, have veered off into the rough and the Glencruitten left-hander is stuck in his home town while his rivals on the second-tier circuit battle it out in the richest event of the season.
“I went to Tenerife for a week with my dad recently to get in some practice for the start of the season, and only two days after I got back I started to feel unwell,” said the former Scottish Amateur champion and Walker Cup player. “I thought at first it might be reaction to a yellow fever jab I had, but that was a month ago.
“I’m finding it hard to eat anything and keep it down. I thought I might leave it late to go out there, but the way I am feeling it really wasn’t on, especially with a long flight.
“I’ve been having blood tests to find out what’s wrong, and hope to find out more in the next few days. One of the biggest frustrations is that the Kenya Open has the biggest prize money on the Challenge Tour schedule, so it’s a bad one to miss.”
Being absent from the season-opening event is a sizeable scunner for MacIntyre but a full diary of events during 2018 will provide plenty of opportunity to play catch-up
“The next tournament is in China in three weeks, so, hopefully, I’ll be okay for that,” added MacIntyre, who won on the MENA Tour in Kuwait last October in just his second start as a professional. “After that it’s pretty well a tournament every week. Once I get going it doesn’t take me long to get my golf head on.”
With no regular European Tour event on this week, a few card holders for the main circuit have dropped down to compete in Kenya. Fife’s Connor Syme is one of them as he bolsters a Scottish contingent which also includes the likes of Grant Forrest, Scott Henry and former Challenge Tour winner, Chris Doak.
This is the 50th Kenya Open and the tournament boasts an impressive roll of honour which includes the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam and Trevor Immelman in addition to well-kent Scottish champions such as Brian Barnes, Ken Brown and Mike Miller.
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