Windsor’s Rizwan Charania in action at a past Safari Tour event. He currently leads the field at his home club leg of the series with one round left to play.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club’s Rizwan Charania continued with his steady form at his home club’s leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series to remain top of the leader board with a two-stroke lead with one round of the leg remaining. He returned a 1-over 73 score on the third round of the tournament, taking his total for the tournament to 2-under par 214; two shots ahead of Dismas Indiza who stormed to second place.

On the first nine, Charania started the round with a birdie on the par-4, first before dropping a shot on the par-3, fourth. He quickly remedied the situation with a birdie on the par-5, fifth before holing another bogey on the par-4, seventh for a total of 36 on the first nine; having held par on the other holes.

On the back nine, he dropped shots on the par-4, 11^th but made a birdie on the par-5, 12^th. A bogey on the par-3 17^th took his total for the back nine to 37 having held par on the other holes.

Speaking after the round, he said: “I still have a long way to go but I am happy with my overall performance. I have improved on my putting which has been my greatest shortcoming and I feel that I can carry this momentum into the Kenya Open.”

Commenting on how the Safari Tour has helped the local Pros prepare for this year’s Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship, he said: “I have really enjoyed it; it has given us professionals a wakeup call to step up our game, and has also given us great experience which will be used at the Kenya Open.”

Meanwhile, Mumias Sugar’s Dismas Indiza returned an impressive 2-under par 70 score to take his total for the tournament to level-par 216; enough to take him to second place with one leg to go. On the first nine, he holed consecutive birdies on the par-4, second and the par-5, third before dropping shots on the par-4, sixth and the par-4, seventh; but a birdie on the par-4, ninth was enough to take his first nine total to 35.

On the back nine, he started off with a bogey on the par-4, 10^th but quickly cancelled it out with a birdie on the par-4, 11^th. A birdie on the par-5, 15^th was enough to take his back nine total to 35; having held par on the rest of the holes.

But the day’s headline story comes from Golf Park’s Tony Omuli who shot an impressive 3-under par 69 (the lowest score so far at this leg) to take his total for the tournament to 2-over par 218 to tie for third alongside Muthaiga’s Greg Snow. On the first nine, he holed birdies on the second, third holes and sixth holes; dropping a lone shot at the eighth for a first nine total of 34. On the back nine, he dropped a single shot at the par-4, 14^th but holed birdies on the 18^th and the 17^th to take his back nine total to 35.  On his part, Greg Snow returned a score of level-par 72 to retain his total tournament score of 2-over par 218.

Players tee off at 8:00am tomorrow for the final round of the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club leg of the Safari Tour where the top eight PROs on the Road to Kenya Open ranking will automatically qualify to play at this year’s Magical Kenya Golf Championship.

KCB Group Director, Marketing & Communications, Angela Mwirigi, presents a dummy cheque worth Kshs. 2 Million, to PGK Chairman, Charan Thethy and  PGK Member Elisha Kasuku  during the launch of  2019 KCB  Road to the Masters.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

A total of 20 local golfers will get direct entries to the annual KCB-sponsored Karen masters, a sanctioned Sunshine Tour event, through a Road to Masters qualifying tourney set to tee off next weekend at Karen Country Club from June 25 to 30.

The pro-am competition will run in five clubs across the country beginning with Sigona but the professionals will participate in only four of the five events. The bank has sponsored the tour to a tune of Sh 2million to be divided in four events, each getting Sh 500,000 as prize money.

“The prize money for the Pros will be split on a 60/40 ratio. The 60 percent will be prize money for the top 15 finishers while the 40 percent is set aside for those who meet the set scores for the different courses. The cut will be set at level par and better, “said Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) chair Charan Thethy.

Additionally, the 20 Pros will be joined on the course by 30 amateurs at the pro-am event preceding the masters as six amateur winners stand a chance to be selected at each of the five qualifying rounds. The qualifiers will be Men Winner, Lady Winner, Guest Winner, Staff Winner, Junior Winner and a Wild Card winner.

“In the last two editions, our golfers have not had the chance for build up events to the Karen Masters. That’s like going to the Olympics without trials and that cannot guarantee good result. This year will be different as we have the four events to prepare and we are hoping for better scores from our locals,” added the PGK chair.

According to the event organisers, the date has been pushed forward to June as they anticipate better weather thus attracting more golfers and fans to Karen as opposed to when the event is held in the cold month of July.

“We are redefining golfing in Kenya by increasingly giving more opportunities to amateur and professional golfers across the country. We believe in growing sports talent for local and international competitions. It’s our way of using golf to promote sports tourism and as a result catalysing Kenya’s economic growth agenda,” said KCB Group Director of Marketing and Communications Angela Mwirigi during the launch.