Charania, Ngige top Safari Tour standings

What you need to know:

  • Both Charania and Ngige climbed one and two places respectively to the ranking summit ahead of the fourth leg
  • Erick Ooko earned 48 points to see him climb one place on the ranking to settle in third with a total of 158.5 points
  • Winner of the Royal Nairobi leg Tony Omuli jumped 12 places on the ranking to settle for 13th place with a total of 64 points

Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club’s Rizwan Charania and Thika Sports Club’s Simon Ngige are joint leaders on the “Road to the 2020 Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa’’ ranking with 166.6 points each after three Safari Tour legs.

This is in the absence of last season’s overall winner of the Safari Tour, Greg Snow, who did not play at the Royal Nairobi leg due to engagements outside the country. Both Charania and Ngige climbed one and two places respectively to the ranking summit ahead of the fourth leg which tees off in a fortnight in Entebbe, Uganda.

Ngige finished third, alongside Mohit Mediratta, at the just-concluded Royal leg event where he garnered a total of 44 points, with Charania fifth, alongside Dismas Indiza and Njuguna Ngugi, amassing 37.6 points.

Royal Nairobi Golf Club’s Erick Ooko, who fell short of clinching his maiden Safari Tour victory to Golf Park’s Tony Imuli, earned 48 points to see him climb one place on the ranking to settle in third with a total of 158.5 points.

Johnnie-Walker-sponsored Dismas Indiza, who was the highest ranked Kenyan at the Uganda Open last month amassing maximum Safari Tour points, is currently ranked fourth with a total of 142.6 points. He finds himself one place ahead of fellow Johnnie-Walker-sponsored golfer, Snow, who is in fifth with 135 points.

Sigona’s Mohit Mediratta, who has had a decent outing so far in the Tour, is sixth with a total of 129 points having collected 44 points from the Royal Nairobi leg of the Tour. Nyali’s Njuguna Ngugi is in seventh, just 4.6 points behind Mediratta. Meanwhile, the winner of the Royal Nairobi leg Tony Omuli jumped 12 places on the ranking to settle for 13th place with a total of 64 points.

The Safari Tour Series is used to prepare players for Kenya Open Golf Championship; with its ranking determining the local and regional pros who play at the Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship. The 2019/20 Safari Tour just like the Kenya Open, is sponsored by Magical Kenya and Absa.

On Saturday at Kiambu Golf Club, golfers will be celebrating the Mashujaa Day with the Soldiers Golf Day being organized by serving and retired soldiers drawn from Army, Kenya Air Force, National Police Services and the Kenya Navy.

Event convenor Njuguna Kimani said the event offers an opportunity for the soldiers to discuss issues touching on their welfare, as well as support the needy in the society.

“We have a number of projects we would like to support such as the construction of a toilet on the course and other facilities in the club house," said Kimani.

Kimani said it was the wish of the serving and retired soldiers to make the event an annual one. A field of 150 players were drawn to battle it out for the Soldiers Mashujaa Day Trophy among other take-away prizes.