Erick Ooko in action at Sigona today.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Golf Park’s David Wakhu tied at the top of the leader board with two other players on day three of the 2020 Safari Tour golf series at the par 72 Sigona Golf Club course today.

This was despite making a double bogey at the par five-ninth after blocking his tee shot followed by three putts and another bogey at the par three-11^th for one under par 71 for the day, to tie with day two leader Edwin Mudanyi, and another Golf Park player Eric Ooko on two under par 214 going into tomorrow’s final round.

“I have never been so nervous like today, I just didn’t know why and it made me three putts some holes that I had chances of scoring like the 11^th hole,’’ said Wakhu who will now be in the last flight with Mudanyi and Ooko as they battle it out for the cash prize of Sh150,000 plus some points.

Mudanyi played a bogey-free front nine that included two birdies at the fourth and sixth, though the back nine was not that impressive as made bogeys at the 13^th, 16^th and 18^th with only a two at the 14^th to level the course and stay at the top though in the company of Ooko and Wakhu.

“I started well, with a clean nine for a start, but made a number of bad putts at the back nine that would have given me a fine low score for the day. I didn’t deserve the two over on the back nine, but I will try and keep cool in tomorrow’s final round and try and make as many birdies. A five under would be most welcome’’ said Mudanyi.

Ooko on the other made three putted the par three 11^th and having also dropped a shot on the other short hole (three) after hitting the edge of the green where the ball rolled out. He missed the par to drop his first hole of the day. “My game at the moment is very solid, though sometimes I am losing concentration, and I am looking forward for a good game with Wakhu and Mudanyi’’ said Ooko who birdied the second and the eighth and at the 10^th and 15^th at the back nine.

Three others tied on one over par 217 with two of them Brian Njoroge, and Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi, having shot one over par 73 while senior pro Dismas Indiza, brought in two over par 74.

For the three amateurs who made the second round cut, Nyali’s Adel Balala stayed on course despite a three over par 75 to tie for 14^th place on six over par222, while the going was tough for Naomi Wafula as she posted eight over par though she remained ahead of former amateur matchplay champion Paul Muchangi of Limuru.

Local pro golfers Greg Snow (centre) with Robinson Owiti (left)and Mathew Omondi (right) during a recent Safari Golf Tour action.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) members taking part in the ongoing 2020 Safari Tour series which serves as the qualifier to the Magical Kenya Open European Tour have written to the event organisers on a number of concerns pertaining the ongoing tour.

PGK claim their efforts to be involved in the tour have fallen on deaf ears. A verbal request, by the PGK board, to co-own and co-run the tour at inception is said to have been blatantly rejected.

Among the issues the professional body is seeking to be addressed are prize money, which they are terming low adding that despite initial information that they would be playing for Sh 10 million they are only getting Sh 1 million. The pros are proposing a prize kitty of Sh 3 million for local events and Sh 5 million for those outside the country.

” A prize money of Sh1 million is extremely low and to make matters worse the scoring caveat of -3 or better which constitutes 30 percent of the prize money makes most of the money payable Sh 700,000. This means the logistical expenses are Sh1.5 million per event which is highly unlikely. This prize money is not viable for pros. A player who makes the cut gets as low as Sh 5,000 which is not even close to the money they have put in to play in the tour,” reads the petition in part.

Additionally, the body is proposing a minimum of 15 events per year and the last pro to make cut in any event be paid a minimum of Sh 40,000. Their proposals also add that they should not be required to pay any membership or entry fees for the events.

The body has called for better course preparations and proper markings to make rulings fair, easy and non-controversial.

“Over the last two years of events the course set up has been at times bordering on illegal and done without the consultation or involvement of any PGK member or any Safari Tour player.  The conditions do not even meet the standards of professional play. Proper yardage markings should be done for all courses that are hosting an event,” the letter addressed to the organising committee continues.

The golfers have underscored the importance of player representation at the Safari Tour Sub Committee.

Others issues include professionals and amateurs of NO standing being allowed to compete contrary to earlier agreements, harsh rulings by referees and a tedious registration process for events. The pros also want other PGK sanctioned and run events to count towards Kenya Open qualification.

“Additionally, it has been noted with great concern, and dispite the PGK board pointing out severally, the number of spots available for Kenyan pros to play in the Kenya Open are very few and that no representative from PGK is involved in the negotiation process leading to an unfair allocation for Kenyan Pros. We would like make it very clear that there should be a minimum of 25 Kenyan professionals competing in the Kenya Open,” the letter adds.