-The Committee member’s “Beautiful Game of Golf” poem, leaves golfers in tears and Laughter, captured in one verse that reminds Kenya, ‘Why Golf is Heaven found on Earth, ‘Golf isn’t just a game we play, it’s a love affair, a putt, and a lifetime of days.
-ICEA LION had brought 23 South Africans, a AAA-rated balance sheet, and a decade of sponsorship, but Mughal brought one page, and for one night at Nyali, one page was enough to explain why grown men chase one small white ball through the glow, year after year, knowing they will never truly master it.
-And it was the perfect ending to a tournament that had started in the mud of Majaoni mangroves by planting 20,000 seedlings and ended in the poetry of Nyali greens.
MAARUFU MOHAMED-GOLFNEWSLINKS.
The trophies had been polished, the winners of the 10th ICEA LION King of the Course Grand Finale had been crowned, the Generation band prize-giving dinner at the Mombasa Serena and Nyali Golf & Country Club in Mombasa County, was ready to play, then a committee member stood up, unfolded a single piece of paper, and the room went silent.
Aamil Mughal, Committee Member at Nyali Golf & Country Club, did not read a scorecard, he read a soul-card, his poem, titled simply, “The Beautiful Game of Golf”, turned a corporate gala into a church, a fairway into heaven, and an over 200 hardened golfers, Chief Executive Officers, Professionals, South Africans from Lekoa, single handicappers, into nodding, misty-eyed believers.
It was the perfect ending to a tournament that had started in the mud of Majaoni mangroves and ended in the poetry of Nyali greens.
“There is a place where silence speaks, where morning dew adorns the greens, where golden sunlight gently breaks, and nature paints its finest scenes,” Mughal began and instantly every golfer in the room knew the place.
If you have ever teed off at Nyali at 6:12 a.m., with the Indian Ocean breeze rustling the casuarinas, monkeys chattering on the 5th fairway, and dew soaking your FootJoys, you know that silence, it is the only silence in Mombasa that is not interrupted by matatus.
“A little white ball, a world of dreams, a thousand thoughts behind each swing, a game of patience, hope and pride, where every shot can change everything,” Mughal goes on.
That is the psychology ICEA LION Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Philip Lopokoiyit understands, his King of the Course has grown for 10 years because golf, like insurance, is about managing hope and risk, one bad swing, like one uncovered risk, can change everything and one perfect drive can change your life.
Mughal, who has serves on the Nyali committee and seen the Club transform from a colonial-era to one of Africa’s most scenic par-71 courses, knows its traps intimately, “The fairways stretch like roads untold, the bunkers guard their grains of gold, the lakes reflect the endless sky, and every challenge asks us why.”
On Saturday, the fairways did ask why, why did politicians miss the cut? why did the South African Lekoa team, led by President Lietsisio Mohaploa find Nyali’s famous coastal cross-winds so brutal? why did a 23-handicapper sink a 30-footer on 18 to beat a scratch player? because that is golf.
And then Mughal hit the line that made the ICEA LION Board pause their drinks, “For golf is more than clubs and balls, more than birdies, pars and calls, it’s learning how to lose with grace, and finding strength in each embrace.”
This is the line that defines the King of the Course, for 21 qualifying legs across Kenya, thousands lost, only a few dozen made it to the ‘Winners of Winners’ finale.
In business, as in golf, you lose more than you win, ICEA LION knows, it has survived since 1895 because it learned to lose with grace, to pay claims with grace and to embrace clients after a loss, is pure philosophy, the kind that makes golf the favorite sport of judges and CEOs.
“It teaches us that life is much the same, sometimes fortune, sometimes pain, a perfect drive, a wayward shot, a lesson learned, a chance forgot, a putt that dances round the cup, a comeback when you’re three shots up,” read Mughal.
Every golfer at Nyali on Saturday had that putt, the one that dances round the cup, lips out, and costs you the King crown, and every golfer had that comeback, three down after 6, level after 12, winning after 18.
That is why ICEA LION promotes its, ‘Golf Insurance Plan’ at this event, because it covers the wayward shot, the stolen driver, the Hole-in-One bar bill that bankrupts a golfer when fortune finally smiles.
“The joy of sinking one from far, the quiet pride of who you are,” Mughal continues.
But it was the ending that brought the house down, and as waiters held trays of snacks and the Indian Ocean roared beyond the 18th green, Mughal delivered the truth every golfer over 50 knows, “And friendships forged along the way, through countless rounds and endless days, for some, it’s just a game of skill, for others, it’s a lifelong thrill. And when the final putt is played, when evening shadows start to fade, we leave the course, but deep inside, the love of golf will still reside.”
In the audience were friends who have played together for 30 years, former captains, caddies turned pros, a father and son who qualified together, the Lekoa team from South Africa nodded, they flew 3,000km not for a trophy, but for friendships forged along the way.
And then, the masterstroke, “And perhaps that’s golf’s greatest art, it’s not the scorecard that we keep, nor trophies gathered, promises to reap, it’s the moments, memories and friends, and the peace the fairway never ends. For those who love this game so true, there’s always one more round to do, because golf isn’t just a game we play, it’s a love affair with a lifetime of days.”
When he finished, there was no instant applause, there was a beat, that sacred beat golfers know between the ball leaving the putter and dropping into the hole, then the room erupted, standing ovation, not for a winner, but for a writer.
ICEA LION had brought 20,000 mangroves, 23 South Africans, a AAA-rated balance sheet, and a decade of sponsorship.
Aamil Mughal brought one page, and for one night at Nyali, one page was enough to explain why grown men chase one small white ball through the glow, year after year, knowing they will never truly master it, because some love affairs, as Mughal said, last a lifetime of days.
ENDS.
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