By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Sigona Golf Club’s Sujan Shah capitalized on a slump by Dismas Indiza to go top of the leader board at the Lake Victoria Serena Open after round three. Shah shot a round of 70 to take his total for the tournament to 3-under par 213; one shot ahead of the nearest challenger after 54 holes.

He started his round with a near-perfect first nine effort, carding a total of 34 courtesy of birdies at the par-3, seventh, the par-5, eighth and the par-4 ninth; with his only dropped shot of the round coming at the par-4 third. On the back nine he had a bogey-free run; holding par on all holes for a back nine total of 36. With his performance, he equaled his opening round’s score of the tournament.

Professional Golfers of Kenya captain, C J Wangai, also from Sigona- stormed to second place after he posted a round of 69 (the lowest score of the day) to take his total for the tourney to 2-under par 214. On the first nine, he carded a total of 34 courtesy of birdies at the par-4, first, par-4 sixth and the par-5, eighth. He however holed a bogey at the par-4 third. On the back nine, he carded a total of 35 courtesy of birdies at the par-5 13^th and the par-5 17^th; with his only dropped shot at the back nine coming at the par-3 15^th.

Johnnie-Walker-Sponsored Dismas Indiza and Vet Lab’s Edwin Mudanyi (who finished first and second yesterday) had a day to forget having posted rounds of 76 and 77 respectively to finish the day tied in third with 1-under par 215 scores; two shots off the lead. Indiza had a disappointing first nine, carding a total of 39 courtesy of bogeys at the sixth, eighth and ninth holes – and having managed par in the rest of the holes. On the back nine, he dropped two shots at the par-5 13^th and followed it up with a bogey at the par-4 14^th before holing his only birdie of the round at the par-5 17^th for a back nine total of 38.

It was however another strong performance by the Kenyans at the tournament with eight of the top ten players after round three all being Kenyans. Erick Ooko and Greg Snow both ended the third round tied at 1-over par 217 in 5^th while Mathew Wahome and Tony Omuli were joint eighth alongside Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi and Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo at 3-over par 219.

The final round of the tournament tees off tomorrow at 12pm.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort’s Justus Madoya shot a decent round of 68 on the last round of the 2019 Entebbe Open to take his total for the tournament to 9-under par 275; seeing him emerge winner of the tourney.

This was Madoya’s maiden victory at the Safari Tour Golf Series which he won in convincing flair. With 275 shots after 72 holes, Madoya ended his Entebbe campaign eight strokes better than the nearest player – establishing one of the largest wins in a Safari Tour event and having not played worse than 71 in each round.

His first nine on the final round was bogey-free, holing birdies at the par-4 third and the par-3 sixth for a total of 33. On the back nine, he holed the round’s lone bogey at the par-3 10^th before holing birdies at the par-4 13t and the par-5 18^th for a total of 35.

For his stellar performance, Madoya won Ugandan Shillings 6 million (Which is equivalent to KShs 167,000) and picked up maximum points (50) on the Road to the 2020 Magical Kenya Open ranking to go ninth with a total of 116.5 points.

Speaking after being crowned Champion, Madoya said he was thrilled with the win adding that he now looks forward to the rest of the season with a boost of confidence.

“I am excited with the win here which I think has been a long time coming. I have had a great outing here in Entebbe and now look forward to the remaining rounds in this season’s Safari Tour calendar,” he said.

Commenting on the competitiveness of the 2019/2020 Safari Tour Calendar, Madoya said:

“The fact that we have now had four different winners so far confirms that, indeed, the series has become very competitive – which is good for all involved as well as the fans. I believe that if we continue like this, the local contingent of players will be more competitive at next year’s Kenya Open.”

Meanwhile, Johnnie-Walker-Sponsored Dismas Indiza finished his Entebbe Open campaign with a decent round of 69 to take his total after 72 holes to 1-under par 283; which was enough to see him finish in second.

He carded a total of 33 on the first nine courtesy of birdies at the fourth, eighth and ninth holes with a dropped shot at the seventh. On the back nine, he carded a total of 36 courtesy of a double bogey on the 15^th and birdies on the 14^th and 18^th.

For his stellar effort, Indiza amassed a total of 48 Road to the 2020 Magical Kenya Open ranking points to see him top the ranking for the first time ever with a total of 190.6 points from the four events. He took home Ugandan Shillings 4 million (The equivalent of KShs 111,000) for his efforts.

Ugandan Herman Mutaawe finished third overall with a level-par 284 score; taking home Ugandan Shillings 3.2 million (The equivalent of KShs 89,000).

Kopan Timbe finished tied in fourth with a 1-over par 285 score while Johnnie-Walker Sponsored Greg Snow finished tied in sixth with a 2-over par 286 score. With this performance, Snow is now second in the Road to the 2020 Magical Kenya Open ranking with a total of 174 points; while Riz Charania and Simon Ngige are tied in third with 166.6 points apiece.

Action in the 2019-2020 Safari Tour Golf Series resumes next week in Uganda at the Lake Serena Golf Resort Open from the 6^th to the 9^th of November.

 

Safari Tour Calendar 2019/20

Event 1 Nyali Golf and Country Club 24th – 28th August 2019 (Winner: Greg Snow)

Event 2 Uganda Open (Lake Victoria Serena) 10th – 14th Sept 2019 (Winner: Madalitso Muthiya)

Event 3 Royal Nairobi Golf Club 12th – 16th October 2019 (Winner: Tony Omuli)

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

Event 5 Lake Serena Golf Resort Open (Lake Serena Golf Resort) 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.