Heritage

Windsor leg of Safari Tour on this weekend

GREG

Greg Snow tees off during Round Two of the Safari Golf Tour at the Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi on January 14. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Since August 2018, the Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) has run the Safari Tour, a series of professional golf events, aimed at giving Kenyan and indeed East African golf professionals a platform through, which to improve their skills and earn prize money. The Safari Tour was launched in Mombasa County and at the Nyali Golf and Country Club before moving to the Vet Lab Sports Club, the Limuru Country Club, Thika Greens and the Muthaiga Golf Club.

The first four events offered a total prize of Sh1 million supported by KOGL and the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Sports and Ministry of Tourism; winners of these legs banked a top prize of Sh150,000, a modest sum but a welcome one nonetheless. David Wakhu was the winner in Nyali, Greg Snow defeated Dismas Indiza in an exciting playoff in Vet Lab whilst amateur golfer Michael Karanga was the winner in Limuru.

Snow was the top placed Pro at that Limuru event. At the Thika Greens, Snow claimed victory again and resounding won the event at Muthaiga with a 15-shot margin! Going into the final event this weekend at the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club, Snow leads the Safari Tour Road to the Kenya Open 2019 with a total of 95.5 points.

Indiza is second with 92 points whilst Wakhu is third with 61.5 pionts. Windsor’s resident golf professional, Riz Charania is in fourth place with 59 points, Simon Ngige is fifth with 57.5 points, CJ Wangai is sixth with 53 pionts. Nelson Simwa is seventh with 49 points and Justus Madoya is eighth with 47.5 points. The top eight professionals will earn an automatic slot in the 2019 Kenya Open Golf Championship, and this makes the Windsor leg of the Safari Tour very nerve racking for some of the Pros currently in the top-8 and those snapping at their heels. From an arithmetic perspective, Snow, Indiza, Wakhu, Charania and Ngige are safe even if they did not score a single point at Windsor. Wangai, Simwa and Madoya could be dethroned by the likes of Jacob Okello, Ngugi Njuguna, Uganda’s Philip Kasozi, Tony Omuli, Sujan Shah, David Opati, David Odhiambo, Alfred Nandwa and John Kagiri.

With a total prize kitty of Sh3 million at stake and eight slots into the Kenya Open up for grabs, the Safari Tour at Windsor will be a nail-biting affair.

It will be interesting to see if one of Kenya’s most successful Pros, Jacob Okello can find his swing at the long Windsor course and snatch a spot from one of his compatriots and tee it up at the Kenya Open alongside Europe’s best Pros.

Also expected at Windsor are the elite amateurs selected by the Kenya Golf Union (KGU) to play in the Kenya Open. They include Daniel Nduva, Samuel Njoroge, Edwin Mudanyi, Mike Kisia and Dubai based junior golfer Bradley Mogire. How these amateur golfers perform at Windsor should give them a great experience and insights as to the level of their golfing skills.

Over 150 amateur members of Windsor will join the golf professionals at a ProAm tomorrow with the Safari Tour proper kicking off on Sunday through to Wednesday. The eight professionals who will participate in the 2019 Kenya Open will be announced on Wednesday 20th March, 2019.

The Windsor leg of the Safari Tour is sponsored by Magical Kenya, Johnnie Walker and Barclays Bank.