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.

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By DANIELLA APIYO

Over200 golfers are expected to grace the annual Chief of Defence Forces(CDF) Trophy golf tourney scheduled to tee off at 7am on Saturday atthe par 71 Muthaiga Golf club.

The event, co-sponsored by Vivo Energy Kenya will be the grand finale of high profile Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) golf events that began with the chairman’s golf tournament and have traversed the country with the Saturday event acting as the culmination of the KDF golf calendar.

“We are grateful to Vivo Energy Kenya for the huge boost towards staging of this year’s event. KDF golf had for a while gone down but in the last two years we have revived it and we are doing well. The sport is gaining popularity amongst military personnel. We can only grow from here,” said KDF Golf Club patron Major General George Owino.

Owino who is the Commandant of Kenya Military Academy says that they have introduced golf at the Lanet based training school as they intend to equip the cadets with basic golf skill.

Apart from the KDF trainees, 75 children from within the military camp and surrounding schools are already benefitting from the program. This is in line with this year’s CDF event that is geared towards promoting skills and participation of golfers in the military and golfing fraternity.

“Golf is a big sport in Kenya and we intend to have our personnel on that front too. The upcoming Kenya Open event, for instance, will be broadcasted to millions of people across the globe and that will in turn grow our sport,” added Owino adding that the Lanet course is the third in the military after Kenya Air Force on Juja road and Thika Barracks.

Speaking at the launch of the Saturday event, Executive vice president Vivo Energy East and South Region David Mureithi, while handing over a Sh 600,000 sponsorship to the organisers, termed the partnership a great step in redefining their relationship with KDF.

“We are excited to sponsor this year’s CDF Trophy, a statement of our commitment to our relationship with the military. We wish all golfers best of luck on the course,” Mureithi said.