By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Golf Park’s David Wakhu was the last man standing in the battle for the Safari Tour series’ fourth leg trophy after fighting a close battle with club-mate Eric Ooko and Vet Lab’s Edwin Mudanyi at the par 72 Sigona Golf course.

He carded one over par 73, on the final round played today, despite missing several birdie chances, for a final score of one under par 287. His final score was three better than Mudanyi and Ooko who were joined in second place by Mumias’ Dismas Indiza at two over par 290.

Playing in the last team with Mudanyi and Ooko, Wakhu started well picking up a birdie at the first hole, but almost lost it after hitting three straight bogeys from the par three-fifth. He closed the first nine with a birdie at the down-hilly ninth which revived his quest for a first victory since Nyali Golf and Country Club in 2019. He set off for the back nine with a birdie at the 10th and seven pars that gave him one over par 73.

“I almost lost focus after the three bogeys in a row. I was focusing on my competition as opposed to my game. The birdie at the ninth brought me back to the game. I hit the left side bunker at the fifth, and though I came out well, did not manage to save a par. I must say my game is getting better after fixing my elbow, and I am now left to deal with my heel which is still problematic. I am now more confident and looking forward to playing well in the Uganda Open,” said Wakhu adding that landing sponsorship would immensely help his game.

It was, however, a tough final round for both Mudanyi and Ooko who carded identical four over par 76 to tie for the second place. On his part, Indiza fired one over par 73 for an all rounds total of two over par 290.

“I had a very slow start as I was three over par in the first four holes though I made a birdie at the fifth, but hit two bogeys at the sixth and seventh largely because of my take off from the tee. I made a birdie at the ninth and 10th and I played well up to the 16th when everything suddenly went crazy. I am, however, happy because I played better than Vet Lab. Now I need to put little more effort in my game as I prepare for Uganda Open,’’ said Mudanyi.

 

 

Ooko, on the other hand, blamed his poor finish on the back nine where he missed many birdie opportunities. He, however, believes finishing on under par in the next tournament is possible for him.

“I am getting back to the game after this long wait occasions by this pandemic and I must thank our Golf Park members for giving us great support. I would also like to thank a Royal member Robert Keter for supporting me at Vet Lab. It made a whole world of difference to my performance’,” said Ooko reiterating Wakhu’s need for sponsorship going forward.

The 31 year old started with a bogey at the first hole, and dropped two more shots on the fifth, and seventh. He made birdies at the fourth, fifth and the ninth. He, however, lost it at the back nine where he bogeyed five holes with only two birdies at the 15th and the 18th where he missed a two by a foot for an easy birdie.

While Wakhu took home the top prize of Sh150,000 the three second placed players earned Sh85,000 each. A total of 24 players including three amateurs had made the second round cut where winning the amateur title back to back was Nyali’s Adel Balala on 12 over par 300 after a 78 in the closing round.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2020 at 7:17 PM and is filed under Golf News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.