Home pro Njuguna Ngugi carded one over par 72 in Saturday’s final round to clinch the pro title in the inaugural Mombasa County Governor’s Cup at the par 71 Nyali Golf and Country Club course.
During the opening round played on Friday, Ngugi fired three under par 68, a round which included birdies on the first, 11th, 12th and 18th holes with one bogey coming on the third hole.
In the second round, Ngugi dropped two shots over the second and seventh with a solitary birdie on the 13th hole for his one over par 72 which gave him a total of two under par 140, beating Thika Sports Club’s Simon Ngige by two shots, to claim the first prize of Sh99,000.
Ngige started with one under par 70 in the first round but like Ngugi, he also carded one over par 72 in the second round for a total of 142. He won Sh81,000. Golf Park’s David Wakhu tied for the third place with Kopan Timbe on 143 after rounds of 72 and 71 while Timbe played the reverse to also wind up on 143, with Vet Lab Sports Club’s Mathew Omondi finishing a distant fifth on 147 made up of 75 and 72.
A total of 21 professionals participated in the event sponsored by the Mombasa County government where the pros were joined by a field of 150 amateurs majority of whom were still on the course battling it for over a dozen prizes.
Meanwhile, action for the professionals now shift to Thika Greens Golf Resort for the first leg of the Safari Tour series next weekend where a field of over 40 pros will be battling it out for a share of the Sh1 million prize fund and some points towards the 2019 European Tour-sanctioned Kenya Open.
During the third leg at Limuru Country Club, Muthaiga’s Greg Snow finished three shots behind a Kiambu amateur Michael Karanga. Snow carded a total of 283 with Karanga winning on an impressive score of eight under par 280.
All the 21 pros earned money with the bottom two Sujan Shah of Sigona and Mombasa’s Fred Kamau taking home Sh18,000 having posted a two rounds total of 160 gross.
Back in Nairobi, the par 72 Sigona Golf Club course on Friday hosted the Crown Paints golf tournament where lady golfer Elizabeth Mbuthia playing off handicap 10, produced an impressive 40 points, to claim the overall title, beating Gakuo Ndirangu on countback. In third place, in the event which attracted a field of 80 golfers, was Kariuki Muraya with a score of 38 points.