EYING TROPHY: David Opati in action at the on going Nyali Open at Nyali Club.

By FIDEL ONO (Writer)

Local top amateur golfer David Opati put aside his horrifying experience in the hands of suspected terrorists on Thursday night to take an early lead at this year’s Nyali Open Golf Championships at the par 71 Nyali Club course.

Opati who travelled for the tournament by road found himself in the same bus with suspected terrorists and had to be held at a police station for close to six hours.

Once he took the course, he braved the scorching heat to lead the first two rounds on one under par 70 gross, to move closer to clinching the tournament for the first time in his golfing career and be crowned the golfer of the year in style.

The Golf Park player, playing off plus three, started off the first par five hole on a bright note with an albatross and followed it with a birdie on the par three-sixth hole before rolling level pars on the rest of the holes for three over par 33 gross in the opening nine.

In the second nine he played six level pars, sank a birdie on the par five-eleventh hole, dropped a shot on the par four –thirteenth hole and had a double bogey on the par five 17^th hole to amass 37 gross.

‘I am happy with my display today, because this course is normally very unpredictable. In 2009 I played three under in the morning, but the story was different in the afternoon where I played eight over due to very strong winds,’said Opati.

Opati will be crowned the golfer of the year 2012 today (Sunday)  as no one can reach his mark in the Golfer of the year ( GOTY)  standings even if he finished 10^th at the Nyali Open.

International Junior and national team player Daniel Nduva playing off handicap three was in hot  pursuit of Opati, taking the second place on one over par 72 gross, while former national golf team captain Francis Kimani had a three over  par 74 gross to be perched at the third place.

Others among the top ten were Gurbux Singh (Nyali) 75, Tony Omuli (Royal) 75, Eric Ooko (Royal) 75, Alan Dainty (Mombasa) 76, Jeremy Wahome (Nyali) 77. maillot de foot maillot de foot

CHAMPION: David Opati in action during a recent golf event at the Railway Golf Club. He will be crowned the 2012 GOTY Champions after this weekend’s Nyali Open.

By JAMES WAINDI (Chief Editor)

Golf Park’s David Opati plans to be crowned this year’s Golfer of The Year (GOTY) in style, with a win at the season ending Nyali Open on December 15 and 16 at the par 71 Nyali Golf and Country Club.

The national golf team captain already has his hands on the title before the last tournament, given that his closest opponent, Nelson Simwa cannot match his score of 102.10 points, even if Opati sat out of the final event.

Simwa follows him 76.75, more than 25 points, but Opati insists that the final event despite being a formality for him, he was going for nothing less than a win.

He opened up the gap in the last two tournaments, where he won the Manchester Salver in Eldoret and Simwa failed to pick any points. At the Uhuru shield, Simwa could also not pick any points, as Opati widened the gap.

“I want to be crowned the champion in style with a win at Nyali Open. I know I already have the GOTY title in the bag but I would not be taking things for granted and I will be seeking to win the final tournament,” said Opati.

He added: “There three events in the GOTY tournament that I have never won in my golfing career, which are the Muthaiga Open, Winstone Churchill and Nyali Open and I would be happy if I won the Nyali Open.”

Last year Opati finished fourth at the Nyali Open and believes this is the year to break the jinx. huarache femme huarache femme