By ENOCK NGOME

Nandi bears John Tarus beat a large field of seasoned golfers from Kericho and Nandi hills to top the eighth qualifying round of 2011/2012 Safaricom Business Golf Challenge at the par 70 Kericho Golf Club.

Playing off handicap 7, the elite golfer who has played golf for seven years now, set off his first tee shot, par 4-304 yards onto the green but parted three times for a par. He dropped a shot on the par 4, second hole, four back to back
pars on par 3, par 4, par 3 and par 4 third, fourth, fifth and sixth holes consecutively.

Tarus dropped a shot on the par 4, seventh hole before penning his 20 points front nine with double pars on par 5 and par 4, eigth and ninth holes respectively.

The Nandi bears golfer hit a par on par 4 tenth hole, dropped a shot on eleventh par 4, a par on par 3, twelvth hole but dropped two shots on fourteenth and fifteenth holes respectively.

He recovered with the only birdie for the day on par 5, fifteenth hole that spiced up his impressive 20 back nine and three back to back pars on par 3, par 5 and the last hole par 4 consecutively.

“Apparently i have played on wet greens for long and hence the trick has been to prefer irons on all of my tee shots and thus keeping the balls safe on fairways. Thats how i won,” said Tarus on receiving his fully sponsored ticket
for the grand finale scheduled for April next year at Rea Vipingo, Mombasa from Evans Nyagah, Safaricom Head of Enterprise Sales and Retention.

Playing off handicap 13 from Nandi bears as well William Kamanga shot the second best for the day to also get a slot for the grand finale.

William hit an outward 18 and in ward 20 for  38 stable ford points. He hit three best birdies that attributed to his first runners up position on par 4 seventh hole,par 5 fifteenth and par 5 seventeenth .

The well known long hitter, hit pars on first, fourth, fifth, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth holes.

Previously, Safaricom had sponsored the Clubs caddies competititon which was won by Robert Ngeno playing off handicap 6. He won a blackberry phone and airtime worth Ksh 5,000.

William Kamanga from home club playing off handicap 13 came in third with 38 stableford 20 and 18 on front and back nine respectively.

Gurdit Virdee playing off handicap 4 from Kericho came in fourth overall hitting 37 points.Longest drive ladies prize went to Ireen Brooker from Nandi bears playing off handicap 29 and for men went to home club Charles Siele playing off handicap 1.

Nearest to the pin prize went to Richard Rotich playing off handicap 12 and the guest prize went to Philip Owino from Nyanza club playing on 3 handicap. All the winners in different Categories received Mobile phones, Airtimes, Laptops and goods worth courtesy of Safaricom Business.

The ninth Safaricom Business golf Challenge qualifying round moves to coastal region on 12th November at Nyali Golf Club. Players from Mombasa, Rea Vipingo and Malindi golf clubs are expected to qualify from the same venue. canada goose damen canada goose damen

By ENOCK NGOME

The curtains come down on the 2011 NIC Bank Golf Series with the final round scheduled for the challenging 18-hole, par-71 championship course at the Nyali Golf and Country Club.

The NIC Bank Golf Series kicked off in June at the Eldoret Golf Club before moving to the Vet Lab Sports Club, Nanyuki Sports Club and Limuru Country Club in July.

In August, the series visited the Nyanza Club in Kisumu where golfers from Kakamega, Kisii, Kericho and Nandi Bears participated. In September, the seris moved to the Nakuru Golf Club and Kiambu Club. The Thika Sports Club hosted NIC Bank on the 8th of October in what was one of the biggest events on the series; over 220 golfers participated at Thika.

This weekend, the series comes to a close with over 160 golfers scheduled to participate at Nyali. According to the NIC Group MD, James Macharia, NIC Bank has invited golfers from clubs across the Kenyan Coast.

“The NIC Bank Golf Series has been hugely successful with golfers across the country supporting the events,” Macharia said. “We are concluding at Nyali and invitations have been sent out to golfers from Malindi, Vipingo, Leisure Lodge and Mombasa Golf Club. We also expect a huge entourage of golfers from Nairobi to join us at Nyali.” According to Macharia, the events have offered the bank and golfers an excellent opportunity to interact. “Golf has given both NIC bank and the golfers a good platform to network and interact; the feedback we have received from golfers has been invaluable in terms of modeling our product offerings,” Macharia added. “It is very likely that NIC Bank will be extending this sponsorship through 2012.”

Commenting on the condition of the golf course at Nyali, the Club Captain George Nesbitt said the course would be playing long. “We have received some rains recently and the course is in perfect condition and ready for Saturday’s event,” Nesbitt said. “The greens are looking good and the fairways well kept. Golfers can expect a very scenic view as they battle it out for top prize.”

Action at Nyali will begin at 7.30am with the afternoon tee off expected to start some minutes past midday. “Whilst we welcome the NIC staff and guests from Nairobi, we want to assure them the friendly nature will not be extended to the golf course,” Nesbitt added. “Some of our top players, David Muli, former captain Gurbux Singh, Daniel Nduva and Terry Kaguta will not be taking prisoners on the golf course!”

The NIC Bank Golf series has brought together nearly 2, 000 golfers drawn from 21 golf clubs across the country in the past five months in what has been exciting golfing experience.

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