NAIROBI, Kenya, February 23, 2026 – President William Ruto has promised to introduce his grandchildren to golf, himself, having missed the opportunity to play the sport in his younger years.
President Ruto says he will ensure that his grandchildren get to grips with the sport in their youth.
“I may have missed the opportunity to be a golfer myself. I may have also missed the opportunity to support my children to do this sport. I am told it is best when you start it early. But I want to admit and promise that my grandchildren, I will at least make sure that they start early…and I have several,” he said.
The president further admitted that his perception of golf has changed after interacting with a number of young players.
“I must admit that I don’t know very much about golf. When I was growing up, I was told it was a rich man’s sport. But I have since discovered that it is a common sport for all of us. This afternoon, particularly, I was inspired by the young golfers. I saw them in the field. Particularly, one young man explained himself to me and I have completely changed my mind about what golf is,” Ruto said.
At the same time, President Ruto announced that golf will be incorporated as part of a curriculum to be taught in schools.
“I have been challenged that most of the good people who won are below the age of 25 or thereabouts. That means this is a sport for young people and therefore, we have now approved as a government the curriculum for golf to be part of the games that can be taught in school,” he said.
He was speaking on Sunday evening at the closing ceremony of the 57th Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa at the Karen Country Club.
South African Casey Jarvis was crowned winner after a rain-drenched final day in which he carded an overall score of 255 points (25-under-par).
The 22-year-old also walked away approximately Ksh 62 million richer after emerging the best out of 144 competitors across the four days of competition.
Reflecting on the significance of the DP World Tour event, President Ruto said it is one more reason to justify his government’s increasing focus on the sports industry.
“What we are celebrating here today is more than a tournament. We are celebrating here Magical Kenya. Our sporting nation. We are a great sporting nation and we are celebrating the spirit of sport in our country. We are celebrating Kenya. The magical Kenya, a wonderful tourist destination,” Ruto said.
He added: “I want to commit that going forward, as we have done in all the other sports, we will continue to escalate our support for sports in Kenya. We are matching what we are saying with what we are doing. Many people ask me, why are we spending so much money in sports? As you are aware, I have made a deliberate decision that we must put sports infrastructure in place.”
Focus now shifts to the next major international competition, the WRC Safari Rally, which will be held on March 12-15 in Naivasha.
Kenya will also host the sixth edition of the Kip Keino Classic World Continental Tour Gold in April.
