Greg Snow poses with the Safari Tour trophy after winning the Muthaiga leg of the golf series by a 15-stroke gap.

By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS

Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow kept his impressive form going at his home club, to claim his third title, and his fourth top prize money win, of the 2018/19 Safari Tour golf series season.

Snow, who had played an impressive round of 7-under par in round 3, started the final round in decent form hitting par in the opening two holes before dropping shots at the Par-4 3rd and par-4 9th. He however managed a lone birdie on the first nine at the Par-5 7th for a total of 36. Check out sports betting sites in kenya if you are interested in wagering on your favorite player

He then followed it up with an impressive back nine score of 34, with birdies at the Par-4 14th and Par-5 18th, to return a score of one under par 70 for the round, taking his total to an impressive 13-under par 271, 15 strokes ahead of the duo of Dismas Indiza and Riz Charania who were tied for second place. With this score, Snow became the first player in the Safari Tour to return scores of under par in all the four rounds played.

Speaking after the win, Greg credited his work on his shot game as the key to the success, “After Thika, I noticed that my shot game was a bit off, so I put some bit of work on it and I am glad to see the results. The hot conditions over the past five days made the greens a bit faster but I managed to keep up and I am pleased with my overall performance.”

“I’ll have a few days of rest before getting back to work ahead of the last leg in Karen.” He added.

Snow extended his overall lead on the Road to the 2019 Kenya Open ranking to 95.5 points; having picked up maximum points over the last four Safari Tour events. For his efforts, Snow took home KES 450,000 following the tripling of the Prize Money as a result of a boost in sponsorship from both Johnnie Walker and Barclays Bank of Kenya.

Greg Snow poses with the Safari Tour trophy after winning the Muthaiga leg of the golf series by a 15-stroke lead.

Mumias-based Dismas Indiza, returned an impressive score of 2-under par 69, the best of the fourth round, to see him finish the tournament with a total of 2-over par 286, tied for second with Riz Charania. Simon Ngige at 4-over par 288 and David Wakhu at 6-over par 290, rounded up the top five positions at Muthaiga.

Meanwhile, Edwin Mudanyi was crowned the Amateur winner, after returning a decent score of 14-over par 298, to place him 14th on the overall log. Speaking on his performance over the four days of competition, Mudanyi was happy with the exposure the tournament gave him.

“It has been a great experience playing with the pros, my overall performance has given me great confidence and will go a long way in further preparing me to become a professional.”

While congratulating the winners, Kenya Open Golf Championship tournament director Mr. Patrick Obath, was impressed by the improving standards of play witnessed during the tour and expressed his confidence in Kenyan Professionals performing well at the Kenya Open.

“We have seen a steady improvement in the standards of play during the tour, today Greg Snow became the first golfer in the series to return scores of under par through out the four rounds of play. It is performances like these that make us confident of great performances by our pros at the upcoming Kenya Open.”

Speaking on the future of the Safari Tour, Mr. Obath revealed plans of including regional tournament’s in this year’s edition of the series, “This year we are looking at including regional tournaments in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi to the Safari Tour, this will ensure that we grow the sport of Golf around the region.”

Safari tour action resumes next month with the last leg set to be played at the Karen Country Club from the 16th to the 20th of February, ahead of the Kenya Open in March at the same venue.

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.