Chase for Kenya Open golf slots moves to Vet Lab

The chase for the 18 slots in this year’s Barclays Kenya Open for the country’s professional golfers moves to Vet Lab Sports Club on Monday for the second leg.

The event has attracted a field of 45 players including Vet Lab’s top amateurs.

Leading the field will be Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club pro Riz Charania, who won the first leg at Sigona two weeks ago.

During the Sigona event, Charania who said he had started practising after the long holidays, fired an impressive four under par 68 for a total of one under par 215, to beat home pro John Wangai and Mombasa-based Njuguna Ngugi by two shots.

The victory at Sigona earned Charania 40 points towards the Order of merit while both Ngugi and Wangai collected 38.5 points.

Like the first leg, this week’s event will be played over 54-holes with 36 holes or two rounds being played today from 8am while the last 18 holes will take place on Tuesday.

The line-up today includes Dismas Indiza, Brian Njoroge and Simon Ngige, who made the cut in the 2016 Kenya Open hence have an automatic entry to this year’s championship.

Also in the mix is South Africa’s Stefan Andersen, who has been included as the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) wild card.

Therefore the top 18 players minus those four at the end of the three-leg series Order of Merit will book their names to the 2017 Barclays Kenya set for Muthaiga Golf Club from March 23 to 26.

PGK captain John Wangai said the third and final leg of the series will take place at Muthaiga.