Standard golf classic: Tanui, Kiprono lead fairway fight
Sports
By
Ochieng Oyugi
| Jun 20, 2026
[Mose Sammy, Standard]
Over 200 players will take to the course this morning to battle for honours in the Eldoret edition of the 2026 Standard County Golf Classic at par 71 Eldoret Club.
The batch comprising of former 10,000m and world half marathon champion Moses Tanui, Kais Jamal, Navraj Sagoo and Nick Murrey will be first off the tee-box at 8.50am in the tournament themed ‘On the green course, for the green cause’ and supported by Eka Hotel Eldoret.
The quartet will be followed by the second group composed of former tournament champion (2021) Wesley Kiprono who will ply trade alongside Amos Butit, club captain Aron Kitur and Caleb Kositany.
Kiprono has hinted that he is not at the event just to add numbers, but to reclaim the trophy he lifted at the venue five years ago.
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“I’m going for nothing short of victory. I upped my training well, including taking part in a tournament at Kakamega Golf Club on Wednesday to gauge my body.
“I feel fit. I feel good. I feel flawless. This event is already mine to lose,” a spirited Kiprono told Standard Sports.
“I also used the entire Friday to have a feel of the Eldoret Club course, I hit hundreds of balls on the range to gauge my shots, I took to the bunkers to perfect my chips and sauntered on the greens to make my putts very clinical,” the handicap 19 hard hitter added.
Kiprono, who heads to the battle buoyed with a recent hole-in-one victory on the pristine Eldoret course, further added: “I did not grace the gym but I did lots of physical fitness, apart from combing the fairways to put my house in order. I’m very happy with my short game, which is also in perfect order.”
Just like Kiprono, Kitur hit the greens and the fairways from Monday to be in tune with himself ahead of the ultimate showdown.
He is hopeful that the tournament will make an impact among the home players and visiting participants from other nearby golf clubs including Njoro, Kisumu, Kakamega, Nandi Bears, Kericho and even Nairobi.
Former tournament double champion Anika Patel has admitted that she will miss out this year due to work commitment that has put her out of the course for a while.
“I have not been training due to my tight schedule; this has forced me to take a break for a while. But I’ll be present to cheer on other participants as they take on each other on the course,” said Patel, who has also been managing the club’s social media accounts.
Visiting players are kindly advised to be wary of the meandering river that passes through holes 1,3,4 and 5.
It is always believed that whoever has the power and strategy to take good points in these unlikely zones normally carries the day in the tournament.
sports@standardmedia.co.ke