The 2024 edition of the Magical Kenya Ladies Open tees off this week from Wednesday to Sunday at the PGA Baobab Course in Vipingo Ridge, Kilifi County where at least 108 lady golfers will take to the par-73 course for a chance to battle for the top spot in a contest whose total prize purse is €300,000 (approximately Sh 52.4 million). Edwin Otieno takes a look at the key players who will be in action at the event:
1 Dikshar Dagar (India)
Diksha, 23, was born with hearing problems and started to wear hearing aids at the age of six. She started playing golf from the age of seven along with her brother Yogesh Dagar who was also profoundly deaf. She was coached by her father Narinder Dagar, a former scratch golfer who also serves as army personnel. She started playing as a left-hander in 2012. She has two previous Ladies European Tour wins having won the 2019 Investec South African Women’s Open, and the 2023 Tipsport Czech Ladies Open. She is currently ranked 157th on the Rolex player rankings and will be one to keep a close eye on in Vipingo this week.
2. Ana Pelaez Trivino (Spain)
Ana was born in Malaga and grew up with her siblings. Outside of golf, Ana loves to spend time with her dog Rocco and going to the beach. The 25, year-old attended the University of South Carolina and has one LET win under her bet: The 2022 Communidad Madrid Ladies Open; and has 12 top-ten finished under her name. She is currently ranked 113 on the Rolex player rankings.
3. Alexandra Forsterling (Germany)
She has two LET victories under her name: the 2023 VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open, and the 2023 Mallorca Ladies Open, with a solo top-ten finish.
She is ranked 130th on the Rolex player rankings and is certainly key among the players to look out for this week in Vipingo.
4. Nuria Iturrioz (Spain)
Nuria has played 90 LET events, recording four wins, and finishing 10th in 14 occasions. Her wins came at the 2016 Lalla Meryem Cup, the 2019 Lalla Meryem Cup, and the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic, 2023 La Sella Open.
The 28-year-old comes to the 2024 Magical Kenya Ladies Open whilst ranked 165 globally, and with a wealth of golf experience playing in the Ladies European Tour.
5. Sara Kjellker (Sweden)
Sara started playing golf at the age of six alongside her twin brother Jakob and her older brother Emil. Her family is fantastically sport obsessed and competitiveness is part of her genetic code. A great love of golf naturally grew from this familial influence. Sara is living out her dream and her aspirations are big as she continues to love each day playing golf as her profession. She turned professional in 2022 and played in three events on the Ladies European Tour last summer. Her best finish was 8th in 2022. After securing a category on the LET at Q-school, Sara is looking forward to her first full year on tour in 2023.
6. Lee-Anne Pace (South Africa)
Lee-Anne has 11 LET wins, one LPGA win and one Sunshine Tour victory to her name. She has 50 top-ten finishes across her 232 tournament-career. Her LET wins include 2010 Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, S4C Wales Championship, Finnair Masters, Sanya Ladies Open, Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open. 2013 Turkish Airlines Ladies Open, Open de Espana, Sanya Ladies Open, 2014 SA Women’s Open, 2021 Investec South African Women’s Open, and the 2022 Investec South African Women’s Open. The 42-year-old is ranked 190th globally.
7. Gabriella Cowley (England)
Gabriella started playing golf at the age of 13. When not on the practise ground or on the course, she enjoys spending time with her family, going shopping and working on her fitness in the gym to improve her golf. Gabriella comes from a family of professional sports people and notes the most influential people in her life to be her parents for being supportive throughout her golfing career. She has 13 top-ten finishers to her name in 122 tournament appearances in the LET.
8. Lisa Pettersson (Sweden)
Lisa started playing golf at a young age since both her parents and older sister played as well. She grew up practising a lot of different sports and it was not until the age of 15 that she started to focus solely on golf. She attended high school at the National High School of Golf in Uppsala, Sweden. She then received a four-year scholarship to East Carolina University in North Carolina, USA, where she was named the school’s Most Outstanding Female Scholar Athlete in 2018 and Most Outstanding Economic Student at graduation 2018. After graduation from the university, Lisa turned pro and played on the Nordic Golf Tour. Since 2019, she has been playing full time on the Symetra Tour in the US and has one LET win which came last year at the 2023 Helsingborg Open.
9. Kellie Gachaga
Kellie Gachaga is a rising force in golf and is set to make her debut at this year’s tournament. The Dubai-based 23-year-old golfer honed her skills at an early age at the Muthaiga Golf Club. As a promising talent, Kellie has previously clinched victory in both the Kenya Ladies Open Strokeplay and Matchplay in 2016 at the tender age of 16. Having graduated from college last year, Kellie has undergone significant transformations in her game, both technically and mentally under the tutelage of a new coach in Dubai.
10. Naomi Wafula
Naomi Wafula is a product Vipingo Ridge’s PGA Academy. With a rich history at the MKLO, this marks her fourth appearance, having previously featured in 2019, 2022, and 2023. Last year, she became the first Kenyan to make the cut at the Ladies European Tour event.
She finished 56th with 18 over par 310. Her performance saw her earn an invite to play at the 2023 Amundi German Masters, a prestigious golf championship that is a part of the Ladies European Series. She also won the 2023 Kiambu Open, adding to her impressive record in 2023.
