David Wakhu in action at Great Rift Valley Lodge during the third day of Safari Golf Tour today.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Golf Park Golf Club’s David Wakhu finally moved to the top of the leader board going into Wednesday’s final round of the 2021 Safari Tour third leg at the Great Rift Valley Golf Resort in Naivasha.

The consistent Wakhu, shot one under par 70, his second in tournament, for a three rounds total of four under par 209 to jump to the leader board ahead of Muthaiga’s Greg Snow and Kenya Railway Golf Club’s Samuel Njoroge who finished the day on level par total of 213 each.

“I decided to remain cool and play according to my plan which was to play at least four under par for the day. I missed a few chances but I am still happy with a two under par and since there is another day tomorrow, who knows! I could still play a lower score than today’’ said Wakhu who picked up the only bogey of the day after missing the greens. He then birdied the 13th and 14th holes.

Njoroge on the other hand, birdied the first, fourth and sixth, dropped two shots at the seventh and the tough par four‐ninth. He dropped an early shot at the back nine’s 11th, recovered two at the 13th and 14th missed a par narrowly at the par five‐17th but wound up the back nine with a birdie three at the par four‐18th for two under par 69 to tie for the second place with Snow who shot two over par 74 after a string of bogeys including a double at the notorious seventh which has proved tough for him since last year.

He had however picked up a birdie at the par three‐third, then he dropped a shot at the fourth and was lucky to escape with a bogey at the sixth after driving to the right bush where he lost a ball, then he over shot the green on the seventh to double the hole. At the back nine Snow made a birdie at the 14th and everything appeared fine until he missed a close one for a par at the 18th.

It was however a disastrous day for senior pro Dismas Indiza who picked up a seven at the par four‐ninth after over pitching the green, having three putted the seventh and eighth to cancel two early birdies at the fourth and sixth. He started the back nine well, with an early birdie coming at the 11th, though he dropped a shot at the 15th. It was however, an 11 at the par five‐17th where he was penalised two shots for using two caddies, having scored a nine. This saw him close the day on nine over par 80 to drop from third place to 13th place with eight over par 221. On the other hand, Malawi’s Paul Chidale shot two under par 69 for a total of one over par 214 in fourth place and still in with a good chance of string to the top in the closing round.

“I am improving by the day, and very happy in particular with my round today though I missed a few chances which denied me a lower round’’ said Chidale who picked a nine at the 17th after hitting his driver to the bush. He had earlier birdied the six, seven and eight, and at the 10th, 13th and 16th.

The final round gets under way from 8.30am followed by the prize giving ceremony at 2.30pm.

The Leader board after Round Three:

David Wakhu 69, 70, 70= 209

Samuel Njoroge 70, 74, 69= 213

Greg Snow 66, 73, 74= 213

Paul Chidale (Maw) 70, 75, 69=214

Justus Madoya 70, 76, 69= 215

Andrew Odoh (Nig) 72, 73, 71= 216

Tafara Mpofu (Zim) 70, 74, 73= 217

Mathew Wahome 71, 76. 71= 218

Ganeev Giddie 73 73, 72= 218

Sydney Wemba (Zam) 70, 76, 72= 218

Ken Ndege (right) winner of the Leisure Lodge Golf Resort leg of the NCBA Golf series receives his trophy from NCBA Group’s Director of Retail Banking, Tirus Mwithiga on Saturday.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Leisure Lodge Golf Resort’s Ken Ndege carded a round of 38 points to claim the overall win of his home club’s leg of the ongoing NCBA Golf Series on Saturday.

He finished the day three points better than fellow club mate, Toni Venturini, who carded a round of 35 points to claims the winner’s position in the men’s category ahead of Sven Kampa who ended the round with 34 points.

The margins were close as well in the ladies’ category which was won by Kerry Venturini after she carded 34 points ahead of Caroline Mokaya who carded 32 points on the day.

Meanwhile, Solomon Atsiaya from Vet Lab claimed the front nine trophy having carded 18 points, while Leisure Lodge’s George Mokaya claimed the bragging rights in the back nine with 19 points.

Among the guests, Gurbux Sighn from Nyali was crowned the winner with 34 points, as NCBA’s Group Director for Retail Banking, Tirus Mwithiga, emerged best among the bank’s staff.

In the best high handicap category, Leisure’s Lukas Kampa emerged the winner with 39 points. Arnold Kipkoti took the trophy in the Longest Drive contest for men with 215 metres as Caroline Mokaya claimed her second trophy of the day having won the women’s longest drive contest with 181 metres.

Nyali’s Gurbux Sighn collected a second trophy after he won in the nearest-to-the-pin challenge.

The Leisure Lodge event was the 17th on the 2021 NCBA Golf Series which attracted the participation of 100 golfers. This now takes to over 2,300 golfers who have taken part in the Series since its inception in January this year.

Among these events was a two-day junior golf tournament that was held in August at the Karen Country Club which saw 43 junior golfers qualify to play at the Rome Classic tournament this month and at the Big Five tournament in South Africa next year.

Speaking on the side-lines of the Leisure Lodge event, NCBA Group Head of Corporate Banking, Charles Omondi, said the Series has helped create an engagement and interaction platform for the bank, adding that the series finale in Karen later in December should offer a great golfing spectacle.

“I think the first few holes were quite good but things became a bit hectic in terms of getting the swings right, missing pars here and there but, all in all, it was a lovely round. I got to play with people whom I had never met, so we enjoyed the conversation on the course.

“We have seen our customers in every club enjoying the spirit of golf. For NCBA, the Series gives us that opportunity to interact with our customers where they are. These events lead to the grand finale which will be held at the end of the year in Karen. Everyone playing right now is doing so, for a chance to play at the grand finale because it is going to be exciting and, in every way, representative of the NCBA brand.”

So far, 80 players have qualified to play at the series finale by virtual of qualifying in the top five of each seniors’ leg of the Series. The 80 include two juniors aged 11 and 12 who won at the Limuru and Karen legs respectively.

Attention now shifts to the Railways Golf Club for the 18th event in the Series Calendar.