Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow poses with the Safari Tour trophy after being crowned Champion of the Thika Greens leg of the golf series.

By AMANDA DAMARIS

Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow maintained his excellent form at the Thika Greens leg of the Safari Tour Golf series to post a final round score of 2-under par 70, to win the tournament with a total of 5-under par 283.

Snow played a decent first nine, sinking a birdie at the Par-5 second to make good for the dropped shot at the Par-4 seventh. On the back nine, he found birdies on the Par-4 10^th, Par-5 13^th and Par-4 15^th; only dropping a shot at the Par-4 12^th.

Speaking after being crowned overall champion at the tournament, Snow said: “I am very pleased with my performance this week; the course has been tough, and the conditions have been very difficult with the wind picking up; making this the most testing leg on the Safari Tour so far. I started off with a slow start but picked up form along the way and I am delighted to have attained this milestone.”

Greg extended his overall lead on the Road to the 2019 Kenya Open ranking; having picked up maximum points over the last three Safari Tour events. For his efforts, Indiza took home Ksh 150,000.

Long-hitting Dismas Indiza returned an equall-impressive score of 2-under par 70 for a tournament total of 1-under par 287 to finish second overall. He started his final round with consecutive birdies at the Par-4 first and Par-5 second; only dropping one shot on the first nine at the Par-5 fourth. On the back nine, he found birdies at the Par-4 12^th and Par-5 18^th with his only dropped shot here coming at the par-4 16^th.

Speaking after the round, Indiza said: “The course has been decent, though long leading to a lot of player fatigue; but overall it has been a very good outing for me. I would say that the Safari Tour Golf series has been helpful to us as Kenyan Pros as I can confidently say that out form, individually and collectively, is improving tournament to tournament, I however need to work on my game to improve my chances of winning a Safari Tour event.”

For his efforts, Indiza took home Ksh 100,000.

Meanwhile, the Professional Golfers of Kenya Captian, CJ Wangai, returned an excellent final round score of 3-under par 69 (the best for the round) for a tournament total of Level-par 288; tied for third place, overall, alongside Njuguna Ngugi and Simon Ngige. For clunching third place at the tournament, Wangai, Ngugi and Ngige all took home Ksh 55,625.

Speaking after the round, CJ Wangai said: “I think we stand a better chance of having a Kenyan winning the 2019 Kenya Open as a result of the experience that we have all gotten through the Safari Tour. The Tour is keeping us busy – like never before, making the Pros go back to the range to work hard on our form; we therefore stand a better chance of challenging the top players from around the world who come to Kenya for the Kenya Open.”

Action resumes next year with two Safari Tour events planned to take place, before the Kenya Open, at Muthaiga Golf Club and at the Karen Country Club.

Safari Tour Calendar 2018/19:

Event 1 – Nyali Golf & CC – 18 – 22 August (DONE)

Event 2 – Vet Lab SC – 1 – 5 Sept (DONE)

Event 3 – Limuru Country Club – 27 – 31 October (DONE)

Event 4 – Thika Greens- 14 – 19 December (DONE)

Event 5 – Karen Country Club – TBC

Event 6 – Muthaiga Golf Club -TBC

Total Prize Money per event: KES 1 Million.

Greg Snow follows his tee shot during Round Three of the Thika Greens Leg of the Safari Tour golf series. He heads into the final round with a two-stroke lead after an excellent third round return.

By DANIELLA APIYO

Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow returned an excellent score of 2-under par 70, the best of the third round, to take the lead of the Safari Tour leg at the Thika Greens Golf Resort.

Snow, who started the round in 3rd place, wasted no time in showing his intentions, shooting back to back birdies at the par-3 third and par par-5 fourth holes. He would follow these up with further birdies on the 13th and 18th, however a bogey in the 16th, saw him return a score of 2-under, a shot ahead of Joseph Karanja.

Speaking after the Round, Snow said he was pleased with his performance adding that he is fully focused on the final round.

“Overall, it was a good round and I am pleased with my performance, especially after the slow start in the first round, I picked it up yesterday and am now focusing on the last round to get the win.” He said.

Overnight leader Timothy Omuli dropped to second spot, after returning a score of 3-over par 75, after four bogeys; on the par-3 third, par-4 twelfth, par-5 thirteenth and par-4 sixteenth, taking his overall tally to 1-under par 215, two shots behind Snow.

Long-hitting, Mumias-Sugar-based Dismas Indiza had a tumultuous day shooting 3-over par 75 to take his tournament total to 1-over par 217; leaving him tied for fourth alongside Nyali’s Njuguna Ngugi.

On the first nine, Indiza dropped shots at the Par-4 fifth, Par-3 sixth and the Par-4 ninth with a solo birdie on the Par-5 second taking his first nine total to 38. On the back nine, he held par from the 10th to the 15th holes before dropping a shot on the Par-4 16th and the Par-5 18th for a back nine total of 37. Today was the first time in the tournament that Indiza has failed to record level par or lower after 18 holes.

Meanwhile, Ugandan, Philip Kasozi, continued with his steady performance at the tournament to record level par after 18 holes, taking his tournament total, so far, to 2-over par 218. He is currently sixth on the leader board, one ahead of Kenyan duo of Nelson Simwa and CJ Wangai; being the best performance by Kasozi in the Safari Tour after three rounds.

Only five players [Greg Snow (-2), Simon Ngige(Level Par), Philip Kasozi (Level Par), Nelson Simwa (Level Par) and Joseph Karanja (-1)] managed to post level par or lower scores today; as a result of the grounds becoming firmer – following weekend rains and dry conditions that have followed – and general player fatigue among the players.

The final round tees off tomorrow at 9:00 AM with Ganeev Giddie and Frank Mitalo first off the tee. The leading group comprising of Simon Ngige, Tony Omuli and Greg Snow will be last off the tee at 10:10 AM.