Royal’s Sandhu wins Uhuru Shield golf title

Royal Nairobi Golf Club's Jay Sandhu tees off from tenth tee during a past tournament. Sandhu completed a three rounds total of two under par 214 to walk away with the Uhuru Shield golf tournament at Royal Nairobi Golf Club on December 6, 2014. PHOTO | FILE |

What you need to know:

  • One of the leading amateurs in the country Sandhu carded one under par 71 in the first round played on Friday morning, then returned in the afternoon to post two under par 70.

Home player Jay Sandhu completed a three rounds total of two under par 214 to walk away with the Uhuru Shield golf tournament at Royal Nairobi Golf Club on Saturday.

One of the leading amateurs in the country Sandhu carded one under par 71 in the first round played on Friday morning, then returned in the afternoon to post two under par 70.

And despite dropping a shot for one over par 73 in yesterday’s closing round, he still won by six shots from Vet Lab’s Robinson Owiti who fired 75 and 76 in day one but finished strongly with one under par 71 for a total of 222.

Karen’s Anthony Kinuthia was just a shot behind on 223. Golf Park’s Dennis Saikwa and Kericho’s William Odera tied on 225.

It was a tough weekend for Kenya’s big names such as Golfer Of The Year leader John Karichu of Limuru, Great Rift Vallery Resort’s Justus Madoya, Vet Lab’s Nelson Simwa, and Limuru’s Paul Muchangi.

Simwa was down in seventh place on 226 same as Quram Bhatti and Justus Madoya. Mohit Mediratta was down at ninth place while Muchangi just made it to the top 10. Karichu started with a 74 though a 79 and 80 for 233 saw him in 10th place.

Karichu however still leads in the Golfer Of The Year (GOTY) series which comes to an end with the Nyali Open, the grand finale of the season over the weekend of December 20 and 21 at Nyali Golf and Country Club Mombasa where this time, professionals will also be in action.