KGU chairman Lucas Maranga (centre) presents the Manchester Salver Shield to Edwin Mudanyi (left) while Eldoret Club chairman Andrew Chelogoi looks on.

By DANIELLA APIYO

Vet Lab’s Edwin Mudanyi resisted stiff competition to retain the coveted Manchester Salver title, which is part of the Kenya Amateur Golf Championships (KAGC) series event, at the par 71 Eldoret Golf Club held at the weekend.

Mudanyi who played two under par 69 during his last round on Sunday, had managed one over par 72 during Saturday’s first round and eventually beat round one leader George Felix from Golf Park with two shots after finishing on a total of over par 143.

Following his exploits at Limuru Country Club, when he finished third overall in the Safari Tour golf series last week, Mudanyi said the feat played a critical role his Manchester Salver win.

“It feels good to defend this title. After playing alongside the professional players at the Limuru leg of Safari Tour Golf Series, my confidence improved greatly ahead of the Eldoret action,” he said.

The reigning Kenya Amateur Golf Championships (KAGC) champion said he was focused much on overcoming the tricky course rather than who will beat him or whom he will defeat at the end of the tournament that was sponsored by the County government of Uasin Gishu.

“After the Saturday round, I felt like it wasn’t the score that I wanted to play but I told myself that I should come back stronger in the final round on Sunday and I did it,” said Mudanyi.

Final 2018 Manchester Salver results:

1. 141 Edwin Mudanyi (Vet Lab)-72, 69

2.       143 George Felix (Golf Park)-67, 76

3.       144 Mike Kisia (Vet Lab)-72, 72

4.       147 Reuben Njotoge (Karen)-76, 71

5.       147 John Karichu (Limuru)73,74

6.       147 Simon Njogu (Great Rift)-72, 75

7.       148 John Lejirma (Railways)-71. 76

8.       148 Samuel Njoroge (Railways)-76, 72

9.       150 Sandeep Grewal (Eldoret)-73,77

10.   152 Anand Lakhan (Eldoret)-77,7

Kiambu Golf Club’s elite amateur, Michael Karanja, poses with the Safari Tour Golf Series Amateur Silver Salver and Tournament trophy.

By DANIELLA APIYO

23 year-old Kiambu Golf Club’s elite amateur Michael Karanga returned an impressive score of 3-under par 69 on the final round of the Limuru leg of the Safari Tour golf series to win the tournament with a remarkable 8-under par 280.

On the first nine, he returned 8-pars and shot a lone bogey at the par-3 7^th for a total of 37. On the back nine, he sunk birdies on the 11^th, 12^th, 13^th and 15^th and held par on the rest of the holes for a total of 32. Karanga, who has played steadily the entire tournament returning scores of 68, 74, 69 and 69 for the four rounds consecutively, becomes the first-ever elite amateur to win the Safari Tour series; getting the bragging rights for both the tournament’s Silver Salver and trophy.

Speaking after being awarded the trophy and silver salver, Karanga said that he was happy with his overall performance, adding that playing alongside Kenya’s top professional golfers gave him the motivation to excel.

“I am delighted with this win and hope to carry the momentum to the next Safari Tour event. It was humbling playing alongside Kenya’s top players as I learnt a lot from them, and also got great motivation to play well and I believe this is the reason I excelled at this event,” he said.

Meanwhile, winner of the Vet Lab leg of the Safari Tour Golf series, Greg Snow, shot a steady final round to finish 1-under par 71 for a tournament total of 5-under par 283. He started the leg with a bogey at the 1^st before holing an eagle at the Par-5 3^rd before sinking a birdie at the Par-3 7^th for a first nine total of 34.

KOGL Finance Director Joe Wangai (left), presents the Safari Tour trophy and Silver Salver to Michael Karanja.

On the back nine, he dropped shots on the par-4 13^th and the par-4 17^th but holed a birdie at the Par-5 15^th for a back nine total of 37. For his efforts, Snow took home a cheque of KES 150,000 for emerging top Pro at the event.

Vet Lab’s elite amateur, Edwin Mudanyi, and David Opati finished the tournament tied for third after returning a tournament total of 2-under par 286, while Windsor’s Riz Charania finished in fifth, and was the tournament’s third-ranking pro, with a tournament total of 1-over par 289. David Opati and Riz Charania took home KES 100,000 and KES 60,000 respectively.

Speaking at the prize-giving ceremony, Kenya Open Golf Limited Finance Director, Joe Wangai, said it was encouraging to see many Kenyan professional golfers consistently taking part in the Safari Tour tournaments, adding that it is the beginning of the journey towards having a Kenyan win the Kenya Open.

“I am pleased by the partnership we have with the local professionals through this tour. Their continued participation points to the seriousness with which they have embraced it, and confirm to us that we are close to achieve our shared objective of having our own win the Kenya Open,” he said.

On his part, the Captain of the Professional Golfers of Kenya, John Wangai, said: “I would like to thank the Kenya Open Golf Limited for this tour; I can attest to the fact that through this event, local professionals are increasingly honing their skills and I believe through this tour, we will be ready to take on visiting pros from around the world at next year’s Kenya Open Golf Championship.”

Action resumes next week at the Thika Green Golf Resort for the fourth leg of the Safari Tour.