Vet Lab’s Nelson Simwa follows his tee shot during Round 1 of the Limuru Leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series.

By AMANDA DAMARIS

Vet Lab’s Nelson Simwa shot an excellent round on the first day of the third leg of the Safari Tour Golf series at the Limuru Country Club to emerge clubhouse leader with a 7-under par 65 score on Sunday. He shot a bogey-free first nine which he started off with a birdie on the Par-4 first before sinking more birdies on the Par-5 fourth and the Par-4 sixth for a first nine total of 33.

On the back nine, he started off with consecutive birdies on the Par-4 10^th and Par-4 11th before dropping a shot at the Par-4 13^th. An eagle at the Par-5 15^th and a birdie at the Par-4 17^th took his back nine total to 32.

Speaking after the Round, Simwa said that he was happy with his performance after Round One adding that there was still more work to be done in the remaining rounds.

“It was a good opening round today where I only dropped one shot. Overall, I am happy with my performance, but I remain aware of the work that needs to be done in the remaining rounds. I am confident that I can carry this form with me through the remaining three rounds,” he said.

Meanwhile, Muthaiga Golf Club’s, and the winner of the Vet Lab Leg of the Safari Tour, Greg Snow and Golf Park’s David Opati finished the round tied second after returning an impressive 5-under Par 67 score.

On the first nine, Snow picked birdies on the Par-4 second and the Par-5 third before bogeying the Par-3 fifth and the Par-3 seventh to return a first nine total of 36. It was on the back nine that he regained his rhythm with birdies on the Par-4 11^th, Par-5 15^th, Par-3 16^th, Par-4 17^th and the Par-5 18^th for a back nine total of 31.

On his part, Opati managed a bogey-free round starting with the first nine where he recorded a total of 33 after sinking birdies on the fourth, sixth and ninth holes. On the back nine, birdies on holes 11 and 15 took his total to 34.

The elite amateur duo of Vet lab’s Edwin Mudanyi and Kiambu’s Michael Karanga returned an impressive round to finish tied in fourth with a 4-under par 68 score to leave them buoyant going into Round Two.

The junior duo of Windsor’s Taimur Malik and Muthaiga’s Zubair Khan finished the round in a commendable T14 and 21 respectively after returning a respectable 1-over Par 73 and 4-over Par 76 scores.

Action continued on Monday for Round Two of the Limuru Country Club leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series with players teeing off at 11:00am.

Nyali’s Njuguna Ngugi follows the flight of his shot at the Limuru Country Club leg of the Safari Tour tournament.

By DANIELLA APIYO

Nyali Golf and Country Club’s Pro Golfer, Njuguna Ngugi, led his team of Limuru’s Jeff Macharia, Railway’s Edwin Guda and Thika’s Anthony Mwaura to victory at the Pro-Am event of the Limuru Country Club’s leg of the Safari Tour golf tournament today.

Njuguna’s team fended off a stiff challenge that was mounted by the team led by Ugandan Pro, Abbey Bagalana that came in second; and that of fellow Ugandan Pro, Philip Kasozi, which finished third. Abbey is making his Safari Tour debut this week while Philip is making his second appearance at the tournament – signaling the growing interest in the tournament across the region.

In the subsidiary members event, handicap 12 Limuru Country Club’s, Robert Barua emerged overall winner with 38 points while James Mbui, a handicap 12 from Limuru Country Club as well, emerged Men’s winner with 38 points. David Kitheka and Tim Njehia, both from Limuru, were runners-up in the Men’s category with 37 points each.

In the Ladies category, Laureen Gibson from Limuru emerged the winner with a total of 36 points while Grace Kimeria, from Limuru as well, was lady runner-up winner with 31 points. Gad Munyaka from Limuru and Sam Kairu from Karen were joint first-none winners with 20 points apiece while the Limuru trio of Kiragu Kimani (21 points), Peter Giathi (20 points) and Tim Njehia (20 points) emerged second-nine winners.

The main tournament proper of the third leg of the Tour tees off tomorrow at the same venue, bringing together over 40 golf professionals form Kenya and East Africa who will be playing for a stake of the KES. 1 Million total prize kitty.

The Safari Tour is an initiative of the Kenya Open Golf Limited aimed at preparing Kenyan pro golfers for the 2019 Kenya Open Golf Championship.