WESSBERG-WAFULA LED TEAM WINS LET VIPINGO INVITATIONAL PRO-AM
Sweden’s Linda Wessberg, winner of both the ProAm team prize and the overall leading Pro prize at the Vipingo Invitational ProAm. She emerged victorious after returning an individual score of 2-under 70.
By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS
Swedish pro Linda Wessberg and her partners posted a combined score of 44 points to claim the top prize in the second Ladies European Tour (LET) Vipingo Invitational Pro-Am at the Par 72 Vipingo Ridge’s PGA Baobab Course over the weekend.
Wessberg’s team comprising two local pros namely amateurs Naomi Wafula and Florence Kirimi tied on 44 with four teams but won the title with a superior score of 9 on the last three holes after also tying with the second placed team on the back nine.
In second place was the team of English renowned professional Florentyna Parker and Charles Gacheru and David Nyale who scored 44 but with a lesser score of 8 points on the last three holes.
The team of Spanish pro Noemi Martin Jimenez and amateurs Fred Muteti and Gurbux Singh of Nyali came home third with a total of 44 points and 7 on the last the holes.
A total of 13 teams led by the visiting Ladies European Tour Pros and over 50 amateurs participated in the historic event. The first Pro-Am was played on Friday, where the Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck emerged the winners.
The Fuenfstueck led team comprising of amateur Mamta Patel, Rhapti De Silva and Purity Mutinda carded 58nett.
Kenya’s Betty Gacheru with Lady Pro golfers (L-R) Camilla Lennarth, Annabel Dimmock, Kelsey Macdonald and Amy Boulden at the Vipingo Invitational ProAm event
Kitale Golf Club’s Wafula who played in the winning team savored her presence in Vipingo Ladies Invitation Tour. “It’s such a great feeling to play alongside the top 100 ranked ladies from the European Tour. It’s such a great experience and we have learnt quite a lot from the visitors. It’s my hope that similar tours are organized frequently, said Wafula, from the ever-green Rose Naliaka Academy.
The event, which ran across two days, is a pre-cursor to a fully-competitive LET event which shall be held in Kenya later this year, and which is excepted to draw the participation of ladies from Kenya and the East African region.
The LET pros were on their way from the Fatima Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi to the Australian Ladies Classic Bonville in Australia.
The Vipingo LET Invitational was organized by Vipingo Ridge in partnership with U.Com Media the official television broadcaster of Ladies European Tour events. Safaricom and the Kenya Tourism Board also supported the event.
U.Com will use footage from this Vipingo event throughout the 2019 LET season, giving Kenya’s golf tourism a much needed boost in the arm.