Preview

Starts: 20th February 2025
Course: Muthaiga GC, Kenya
Par: 71 (36-35)
Length: 7,228 yards
2024 Champion: Darius Van Driel

2025 Magical Kenya Open Tips

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Magical Kenya Open Course Info

Designer: Peter Matkovich redesign in 2002
Course Type: Classical, tree lined
Last hosted: 2024
Fairways: Narrow
Par 5's: 4th, 7th, 10th and 18th
Premium on: Accuracy

Significant Info To Be Aware Of
This event was played at Karen CC in 2019 and 2021 but moved to Muthaiga GC in 2022.

Muthaiga GC hosted the Kenya Open on a number of occasions but most recently between 2009-2012, 2017-2018 and 2022-present.

The event is played at altitude and those players with experience of playing in the thinner air are at an advantage.

Will The Weather Be A Factor At The Mafical Kenya Open 2024?

A windy week ahead with wind of 15-20mph each day. We will keep a lookout for a bias.

Magical Kenya Open Trends

Winning score
Winning scores in 2017 and 2018 on the Challenge Tour were -11 and -17. Ashun Wu won with a score of -16 in 2022 and Campillo won with -18 in 2023. Van Driel won with -14 last year.

Correlating Courses
Gloria GC which hosted the Turkish Airlines Challenge appears to be a strong linking course. Kenya Open winners in 2017 and 2018, Lorenzo Gagli and Aaron Rai, have several strong finishes at Gloria GC. Ewen Ferguson, who held a four shot lead going into the final round of last year's Kenya Open also has a 4th place finish at Gloria GC. Marcus Kinhult also has strong finishes at both courses.

Course form
Gagli was 16th the year before he triumphed here. Aaron Rai hadn't played the course before when he won in 2017. However, that applied to most of the field. Ashun Wu was also a course debutant when winning last year. Campillo was 13th the year prior to his win in 2023. Van Driel had a strong course record with three top 20's previously.

Recent form
Gagli and Rai both recorded top 30 finishes prior to their win. Ashun Wu was 42nd before his win in 2022 whilst Campillo was 4th on his last start before his win last year. Van Driel missed cut in previous start but had strong form in South Africa earlier in the season.

Magical Kenya Open Stats Analysis

We don't have stats from the Kenya Open's played on the Challenge Tour in 2017 and 2018. However, we can draw conclusions from the winners of earlier events. Both the 2017 and 2018 Kenya Open winners are shorter, accurate players.

We do have stats from 2022, 2023 and 2024 and we take a look at the stats of the winners below:

SG: Off The Tee
29-103-39

Driving Accuracy
5-40-12

Driving Distance
39-93-120

SG: Approach
7-5-15

SG: Around the green
29-18-30

SG: Putting
37-6-23

Accuracy off the tee, a strong iron game with a tidy short game is the key to success here.

Magical Kenya Open Quotes

“It does fly a long way, personally I’ve done well whenever I play at altitude, I’m good at controlling my irons, so I did not do too much trackman work this week - I might have hit about 50 balls on the trackman this week - and I just got my numbers. I’m very comfortable out there. It’s not easy to get your numbers dialled in but I’ve done a good job. My first win came in Joburg which was also at altitude so I have good memories from playing at places where the golf course is at a height and that is definitely helping. I’m very pleased with what I’ve done over the past few days.” Shubhankar Sharma, 2022

“Kenya has always treated me well. I don’t really know what it is about here, but I always get some good feelings each time I come back. Although it is a different course to where I won I always seem to get the numbers right with the distances eventually. The ball can go really far here so you need to be careful with your calculations!" Sebastian Soderberg, 2018

“When I was flying here I was thinking of that (final) round and all the holes. I was already studying all of the course, but actually, the course is completely different to last year. Last year it was so dry and the ball was running a lot. This year the course is playing much longer. I feel it is easier closer to the greens because it’s easier to chip the greens. The fairways are actually in a good condition after all the rain, so I’m hoping for another good week in Kenya.” Francesco Laporta, 2018.

“It’s a really good course. The front nine and back nine are really different. Everybody says this course is shorter, but this year it’s really wet so it’s playing longer than the other years." Romain Langasque, 2018

“The second nine is really tough. There are some holes that I was just happy to par, so if I keep playing them well, it could be a lower score tomorrow.” Max Schmitt, 2018

"The golf course is very, very firm, I almost feel like I’m playing links golf, and the altitude is a factor for sure – I hit a six iron today from about 219 and it just goes so far." Austin Connelly, 2017

"It’s not an overly long course and it’s pretty firm, and it’s quite tight in places so I think hitting it well off the tee and keeping yourself in a good position, just being solid throughout the week and giving yourself chances, I think those are the main keys to doing well around here." Aaron Rai, 2017

“I like the look of the course. It’s like a lot of African courses, they look pretty similar, and we play an event every year in Zimbabwe and two in Zambia and they look pretty much the same, and I just like the look of it – it’s a great South African-style course. I definitely feel the back nine is playing easier. It’s a lot longer as well, about 400 yards longer than the front nine, and there’s a lot more wedges you hit in and birdie opportunities on the back. Overall this week I think you’ll probably see the front nine playing a lot more difficult." Jaco Ahlers, 2017

“It’s a very nice course and there are different ways you can approach it. You can be aggressive with the driver or, like me, you can hit a lot of long irons off the tee – the key is just to hit the fairway because then you can have a lot of birdie chances." Adrien Saddier, 2017

Magical Kenya Open In-Play Advice

Fast or Slow Start

2024
Van Driel led wire to wire.

2023
Campillo was five back after rounds one and two, and led by one heading into the final round.

2022
Ashun Wu was in 23rd place after round one, five shots behind leader Daniel Gavins. Wu was in second place with one round to go, trailing leader Ewen Ferguson by four shots..

2018
Lorenzo Gagli was three shots back in 15th after an opening round of 67. Gagli was 4th, trailing by four shots going into the final round.

2017
Aaron Rai was three shots back in 13th after an opening round of 67. Rai trailed by a shot going into the final round.