By KGG REPORTER

Kenya rallied from third position at the beginning of the final round to finish second behind dominant champions South Africa as curtains came down at this year’s Africa Amateur Golf Team Championships (AAGTC) at the par 72 Limuru Golf and Country Club today.

The team comprising of skipper John Karichu, John Kariuki, Bo Ciera and Jay Sandhu, stemmed their penultimate day tide which saw them drop from joint leadership to third spot, with improved play, to finish with an overall score of 14 over par (890).

The brilliant performance on Thursday could, however, not match a spirited South Africa who recovered from Day Two mishap to finish with four under par (872) victory and a massive 18 shot cushion from their closest opponents Kenya. The Southerners confirmed their dominance with the victory as they remained the only country to have won it since its inauguration fifteen years ago.

Kariuki became the only Kenyan to card an under par score in the tournament when he registered one under par 72 during today’s final round as Ciera and Sandhu got their marks into the Kenyan tally with par (73) performances. Karichu’s two over par (75) score failed to make the grades on the final day which also saw Zimbabwe, the overnight leaders drop to third position.

Kenya carded a combined tally of one over par (220) on the opening day of the championships with scores from Kariuki (par) Sandhu (par) and Karichu’s one over par (74) as Ciera’s score did not count. A three over par (222) on day two aided by a calamitous performance by the defending champions saw the home team hold a joint 4 over par (442) lead with South Africa.

The locals then succumbed to high pressure of sitting atop the leader board on the penultimate day, carding their worst score in the tournament. An 11 over par (230) aggregate score contributed by Karichu (2 over par 75), Sandhu (4 over par 77), Kariuki (5 over par 78) and Ciera (6 over par 79) saw them slide from joint first to third behind Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The final day revival was too little and too late for Kenya as the Southerners led by the best player in this year’s tournament Aubrey Beckley had carded enough to yet again win the championships. Beckely was crowned best overall player with a personal aggregate score of 4 under par (288). Uganda’s Ronald Otile claimed the second best individual gong with a score of 2 under par (290) and another South African Andre Nel wrapped up the final podium position with a level (292) performance.

Kariuki and Karichu, the best performing Kenyans placed a joint 8^th overall with 5 over par (297) while Sandhu and Ciera finished 13^th and 20^th respectively.

Final results:

South Africa 872

Kenya 890

Zimbabwe 892

Zambia 904

Uganda 906

Mauritius 907

Tanzania 932

Tunisia 941

Egypt 945

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