AFRICA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

February 3, 2025

Adel Balala

Quick Quotes

Q. Adel, welcome back to the Africa Amateur championship. How much are you looking forward to this week?

ADEL BALALA: I'm very excited to be back. Leopard Creek for me is the best destination to play golf, and yeah, very excited.

Q. What did you learn from last year?

ADEL BALALA: I learned that I need to keep my head in place at all times and just stay focused and just try and control my tempo throughout the four days. Then again, I have to look at it like a marathon, not a sprint, definitely, because it take a toll on your body.

Q. You have some of your other countrymen playing alongside you this week. How proud are you to be representing Kenya this week?

ADEL BALALA: I'm so proud to be representing Kenya. I always have been. But then again, now that I'm in a senior position, a field the young guys are in, some of them haven't played here before, so I'm taking sort of a leadership role, and I'm loving it. I'm enjoying it for sure.

Q. Are you giving them lots of advice about how to play the course?

ADEL BALALA: Yeah, I'm giving them lots of advice, man, and if they beat me, I'll be a bit angry about that. But then again, I'm so excited, I'm swinging it well, and yeah, definitely.

Also very excited to play alongside Michael Karanga, as well, somebody who's played so good here the last two years. I'm very proud to be a part of the team definitely with him being there. Then again, it gives confidence not only to me but also to the other members that we have a strong horse running alongside us.

Q. How important is this event to the continent? How important is it for the development of golf in Africa?

ADEL BALALA: Oh, let me tell you, I can speak so much about that because then again, I'm a product obviously of the R&A's involvement and support to the countries in Africa, Kenya being one of the main focuses, as well.

Let me tell you, the African Amateur in itself is great chance to get to the British Open then again, but also it's about bringing everyone together from the country and giving hope to the other countries just that there's a chance, that there's a programme that's helping us. For some of us amateurs, we've been playing around the world. We know about the Asia-Pacific Amateur, we know about the Latin America Championship. But then to have one of our own now, it's great that I got to be a part of it.

Q. You mentioned the exemption into The Open. How much of a dream would that be to tee it up in an Open Championship?

ADEL BALALA: Oh, it definitely would be a dream, definitely. I've told you, for us countries that the R&A has really been involved in, the British Open for us is our major-major. Yeah, definitely I would love it tee it up and win, as well.