Nyali Golf and Country Club’s resident Pro, Njuguna Ngugi, in action at a previous Safari Tour event. He tops the leader board at the 2019_2020 Nyali leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series going into the final round.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Nyali Golf & Country Club’s resident professional, Njuguna Ngugi, shot an impressive round of 5-under par, 66 today, to storm to the top of the leaderboard, after the third round of his home leg of the Safari Tour.

Ngugi, who had played a round of 69 yesterday, placing him two shots behind the overnight leaders, returned a blemish free card after round three, to give him a two shot lead heading into the final round of play, tomorrow.

The resident professional, started his round with a birdie on the Par-3 first, before holding par through the rest of the front nine. It was at the back nine that Ngugi got into his grove, with back to back birdies on the Par-3 tenth and Par-5 11th, he would hit further birdies at the 13th and 17th, with par scores in the rest of the holes, to card the best score of the round and the tournament so far.

Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow, moved into second place,after returning a round score of 3-under par, 68, to take his total tally to one over par, 214.

Playing from the same group as Ngugi, Snow started off in imperious form, hitting two birdies in the opening three holes, then holding par through the rest of the front nine. A dropped shot at the Par-4 12th, however saw his chances of catching up with Ngugi, having to settle for second place both in the round and on the leader board.

Speaking after his round, Ngugi was delighted with his display and looked forward to another great performance in the final round.

“I felt great out there today, I played well, almost everything worked out perfectly, I am looking forward to more of the same, tomorrow.”

The overnight leading trio of David Wakhu, Alfred Nandwa and Dennis Saikwa were separated by one shot, with Saikwa playing a round of one over par 72, while his counterparts returned identical scores of 2-over par.

Saikwa now sits in 3rd on an overall score of 3-over par 216, one ahead of Wakhu and Nandwa who are T4, heading into the final round.

Amateur Daniel Nduva, kept his great form going, after returning a score of 3-under par 68 for the round, to see him move to T6 on an overall score of 7-over par, 220, alongside Erik Ooko, who carded 1-under par for the round.

Final round action, will tee off tomorrow at 8:00 AM, with the duo of Kennedy Abuto and Justus Madoya getting this underway.

Safari Tour Calendar 2019/20:

Event 1 Nyali Golf and Country Club 24th – 28th August 2019

Event 2 Uganda Open (Lake Victoria Serena) 10th – 14th September 2019

Event 3 Royal Nairobi Golf Club 12th – 16th October 2019

Event 4 Entebbe Open (Entebbe Golf Club) 30th Oct – 2nd Nov 2019

Event 5 Rwanda Open (Kigali Golf Club) 6th – 9th November 2019

Event 6 Great Rift Valley Golf Club 23rd – 27th November 2019

Event 7 Muthaiga Golf Club 14th – 18th December 2019

Event 8 Thika Greens 4th – 8th January 2020

Event 9 Sigona Golf Club 25th – 29th January 2020

Event 10 Kitante Open (Uganda Golf Club) 12th – 15th February 2020

Event 11 Karen Country Club 22nd -26th February 2020

Event 12 Tanzania Open (Kiligolf) TBC

2019 Magical Kenya Open, Karen Country Club, 12^th – 15^th March 2020.

David Wakhu follows the flight of his tee shot. He posted the joint lowest score at the Nyali leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series today to go top of the leader board alongside Railaway’s Nandwa and Royal’s Saikwa.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Golf Park’s David Wakhu shot an impressive round of 69 on day two of the par-71 Nyali Golf and Country Club leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series to go top the leader board alongside Railway’s Alfred Nandwa and Royal Nairobi Golf Club’s Dennis Saikwa with a 2-over par 144 overall score.

Wakhu, who won the Nyali leg of the inaugural Safari Tour series last year and who led his PRO-AM team to victory at the weekend, shrugged off Sunday’s struggles where he had returned a score of 4-over par 75, to record the leg’s joint lowest score so far.

Nandwa continued with his steady form at the tournament by returning a decent 2-over par 73 score for the round to see him remain joint leader. On his part, Saikwa held his never to record a consecutive round of 72 at the tournament to jump to the lead. It is the first time in the Safari Tour series that both Nandwa and Saikwa are making an appearance at the top of the leader board.

Nyali’s resident professional golfer, Njuguna Ngugi, impressed by returning a score of 2-under par 69 which saw him jump up the standings to end the day tied in fourth alongside Greg Snow at 4-over par 146 overall. Njuguna got off to a shaky start at the tournament yesterday when he finished the round with a 6-over par 77 score. He now heads into the final two rounds of the tournament with win in his sails having scored the event’s joint lowest score.

Matthew Wahome, who is making his professional career debut at the event, finished the round in sixth, having returned an overall score of 5-over par 147; marking a commendable start to his professional career.

13-year-old Andrew Wahome, an upcoming Nyali junior golfer who made history by being the youngest ever entrant at the tournament, honoured the invitation he received to play in the Safari Tour by finishing strong with a Round 2 score of 4-over par 75.

Speaking after his round the young Wahome said it was a great privilege to play alongside East Africas best golfers, adding that it is his hope that the Safari Tour organizers will keep inviting all upcoming juniors to these events.

“I have learnt a lot playing alongside these top Pros. Today I played with Simon Ngige and Sullivan Muthugia and it was a humbling experience. It is my hope that the Tour will keep inviting more junior golfers to come and play and get the experience of playing alongside our top Pros,” he said.

Today’s round was hit by some showers in the morning which led to high humidity that made it difficult to drive the ball long. In the afternoon, however, the weather changed giving way to cool conditions that made for easier scoring.

Meanwhile, 23 players made the cut to play in the last two rounds of the tournament while a further 23 missed out. Daniel Nduva emerged as the only amateur to make it through the final rounds having posted an impressive 1-over par 72 round yesterday which he combined with today’s round of 80 to beat the cut which was set at 10-over.

Action for the third round of the tournament will tee off tomorrow at 10:00am with Nduva and Justus Madoya first off the tee.

Safari Tour Calendar 2019/20:

Event 1 Nyali Golf and Country Club 24th – 28th August 2019

Event 2 Uganda Open (Lake Victoria Serena) 10th – 14th September 2019

Event 3 Royal Nairobi Golf Club 12th – 16th October 2019

Event 4 Entebbe Open (Entebbe Golf Club) 30th Oct – 2nd Nov 2019

Event 5 Rwanda Open (Kigali Golf Club) 6th – 9th November 2019

Event 6 Great Rift Valley Golf Club 23rd – 27th November 2019

Event 7 Muthaiga Golf Club 14th – 18th December 2019

Event 8 Thika Greens 4th – 8th January 2020

Event 9 Sigona Golf Club 25th – 29th January 2020

Event 10 Kitante Open (Uganda Golf Club) 12th – 15th February 2020

Event 11 Karen Country Club 22nd -26th February 2020

Event 12 Tanzania Open (Kiligolf) TBC

2019 Magical Kenya Open, Karen Country Club, 12^th – 15^th March 2020.