Eagle-hitting Juma wins Crown Silicone Golf Series

Kevin Juma, one of the leading amateur golfers in the country, is the 2018 Crown Silicone Golf Series champion.

The handicap three Juma, who qualified from Royal Nairobi Golf Club, clinched victory during Friday’s grand finale that attracted a field of 144 players including 47 qualifiers at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club course.

Juma, who is now preparing for the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) grand finale at Nyali, Mombasa, carded 37 points in a round that included an eagle three and a birdie four.

“I almost missed the event as I did not know it was taking place today since the event’s draw was not publicised,” said Juma who qualified with a score of 36 points at his home club.

“I was informed by our club pro Charan Thethy that my name had been mentioned in the Nation as one of the favourites to win the event, and that is when I dashed to Muthaiga,’’ said Juma who earned himself a golfing trip to Marbella, Spain.

He started the round with a bogey at the par four-first, dropped one more shot at the ninth having picked up an eagle three at the par five-fourth for 20 points in the first nine.

The back nine was not as smooth as well as he picked up three bogeys at the 11th, 14th and 16th though wound up the back nine with a birdie at the 18th for 17 points. He won the first prize.

Ruiru Sports Club’s Samwel Otieno was second on 32 points while Liz Mbuthia from Sigona was third with 31 points.

The day however belonged to Vet Lab Sports Club’s Nelson Ndegwa who posted his best round ever in his golfing career, an amazing 46 points, to lead the guests of Crown Paints which has been running the series for the past 10 years.

Ndegwa, also a member of Karen where he recently won the UAP golf tournament, picked three double bogeys in the first nine and two at the back nine, but all this did not seem to matter since Ndegwa was able to collect 22 points in the outward nine and an impressive 24 at the back nine.

“Everything worked well for me today although I must thank my team mates who encouraged me when they realized I was playing well. It's wonderful to beat over 100 others with such a fine score," said Ndegwa who won by six points from second-placed John Kimondo while winning the nines were Wazir Merali and Nitin Shah on 22 and 20 points respectively.

In the subsidiary events, Mwai Munyi won the men’s longest drive while the ladies' longest drive award winner was Rachna Patel and J. Karanja won the nearest to pin prize.