David Wakhu follows the flight of his tee shot. He posted the joint lowest score at the Nyali leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series today to go top of the leader board alongside Railaway’s Nandwa and Royal’s Saikwa.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Golf Park’s David Wakhu shot an impressive round of 69 on day two of the par-71 Nyali Golf and Country Club leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series to go top the leader board alongside Railway’s Alfred Nandwa and Royal Nairobi Golf Club’s Dennis Saikwa with a 2-over par 144 overall score.

Wakhu, who won the Nyali leg of the inaugural Safari Tour series last year and who led his PRO-AM team to victory at the weekend, shrugged off Sunday’s struggles where he had returned a score of 4-over par 75, to record the leg’s joint lowest score so far.

Nandwa continued with his steady form at the tournament by returning a decent 2-over par 73 score for the round to see him remain joint leader. On his part, Saikwa held his never to record a consecutive round of 72 at the tournament to jump to the lead. It is the first time in the Safari Tour series that both Nandwa and Saikwa are making an appearance at the top of the leader board.

Nyali’s resident professional golfer, Njuguna Ngugi, impressed by returning a score of 2-under par 69 which saw him jump up the standings to end the day tied in fourth alongside Greg Snow at 4-over par 146 overall. Njuguna got off to a shaky start at the tournament yesterday when he finished the round with a 6-over par 77 score. He now heads into the final two rounds of the tournament with win in his sails having scored the event’s joint lowest score.

Matthew Wahome, who is making his professional career debut at the event, finished the round in sixth, having returned an overall score of 5-over par 147; marking a commendable start to his professional career.

13-year-old Andrew Wahome, an upcoming Nyali junior golfer who made history by being the youngest ever entrant at the tournament, honoured the invitation he received to play in the Safari Tour by finishing strong with a Round 2 score of 4-over par 75.

Speaking after his round the young Wahome said it was a great privilege to play alongside East Africas best golfers, adding that it is his hope that the Safari Tour organizers will keep inviting all upcoming juniors to these events.

“I have learnt a lot playing alongside these top Pros. Today I played with Simon Ngige and Sullivan Muthugia and it was a humbling experience. It is my hope that the Tour will keep inviting more junior golfers to come and play and get the experience of playing alongside our top Pros,” he said.

Today’s round was hit by some showers in the morning which led to high humidity that made it difficult to drive the ball long. In the afternoon, however, the weather changed giving way to cool conditions that made for easier scoring.

Meanwhile, 23 players made the cut to play in the last two rounds of the tournament while a further 23 missed out. Daniel Nduva emerged as the only amateur to make it through the final rounds having posted an impressive 1-over par 72 round yesterday which he combined with today’s round of 80 to beat the cut which was set at 10-over.

Action for the third round of the tournament will tee off tomorrow at 10:00am with Nduva and Justus Madoya first off the tee.

Safari Tour Calendar 2019/20:

Event 1 Nyali Golf and Country Club 24th – 28th August 2019

Event 2 Uganda Open (Lake Victoria Serena) 10th – 14th September 2019

Event 3 Royal Nairobi Golf Club 12th – 16th October 2019

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

Event 5 Rwanda Open (Kigali Golf Club) 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.

Royal Nairobi Golf Club’s Eric Ooko in action at the Nyali Golf and Country Club leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series in August last year. He will be in action this weekend in Nyali for the new season of the Series.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

The first leg of the 2019/20 Safari Tour Golf series set to tee off this Saturday at the Nyali Golf and Country Club in Mombasa, has attracted an impressive field of over 40 professionals from around the region.

Among the notable names set to battle it out for a share of the the KES. 1 Million total Prize kitty, include defending series champion, Greg Snow, Golf Park’s David Wakhu who won in Nyali last year, hard hitting Dismas Indiza and Windsor Golf Club’s Riz Charania. Mohit Mediratta, who missed most of the Safari Tour action last season, makes a return to the tournament this. Weekend.

The field also includes entries from Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Among the regional players whose entries have been received by the tournament organizers, Kenya Open Golf Limited, include Tanzania’s Nuru Mollel, Rajabu Pembe and Abdalla Yusuf; Uganda’s Philip Kasozi, Mwanja Becca, Dennis Anguyo, Bagalana Abbey and Toolit Brian; and double Sunshine Tour champion from Zimbabwe, Charamba Tongoona.

The event also features entries from elite amateurs, notably Zayan Din from Nyali.

The four-day tournament will tee off with a Pro-Am event which will see the Professional golfers play with amateurs on Saturday, the 24^th of August at the same venue, before the main competition which will be played from Sunday 25^th to Wednesday 28^th August. A golf clinic will be held tomorrow at the same venue featuring a section of professional players taking amateur and junior golfers through a golf basics course.

Speaking ahead of the Nyali leg, Safari Tour Golf Series Tournament Director, Patrick Obath said: “We are delighted with the level on entries that we have received for this event as it confirms its importance to both our local anc regional pros as they work towards getting a slot in next year’s Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship. We are particulalry glad to see entries from Zimbabwe as well as as increased number of players from both Uganda and Tanzania. As we move along, we hope to attract more regional professionals as the tour continues.”

Obath added: “On behalf of KOGL, I would like to welcome our visiting pros and wish them an enjoyable stay in Kenya for the duration of the event and also wish them well on the course. I wish all golfers the best as they take on the Nyali course and look forward to seeing great results.”

The Nyali leg will be the first in a series of 12 tournaments that will constitute the 2019/20 Safari Tour, that will see golfers play in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, culminating with the 2020 Magical Kenya Open set to be hosted at the Karen Country Club from the 12^th – 15^th of March 2020.

After Nyali, the series will move to the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Club from the 10^th to the 14^th of September for the Uganda Open, then to the Royal Golf Club Nairobi from the 12^th – 16^th of October.

Action will move back to Uganda, this time at the Entebbe Golf Club from the 30^th of October to the 2^nd of November. The series will then head to Rwanda, at the Kigali Golf Club from the 6^th to the 9^th of November, after which it will make stops at the Great Rift Valley and Muthaiga Golf Clubs before breaking for Christmas on the 18^th of December.

Safari Tour Calendar 2019/20:

Event 1 Nyali Golf and Country Club 24th – 28th August 2019

Event 2 Uganda Open (Lake Victoria Serena) 10th – 14th September 2019

Event 3 Royal Nairobi Golf Club 12th – 16th October 2019

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

Event 5 Rwanda Open (Kigali Golf Club) 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.