Safari Tour heads to Thika Greens for fourth leg
What you need to know:
- So far, the three legs played at Nyali, Vet Lab and Limuru Country Clubs produced some interesting results
- Among those out to narrow Snow’s lead will be players like David Wakhu, Justus Madoya, John Wangai and Rizwan Charania
- Long-hitting Tanzania’s Nuru Mollel will be making a return to the tour after missing out on the Nyali and Limuru legs
- The main tournament will be preceded by Saturday’s Pro-Am where the pros will be joined by over 100 players in the event
While the elite amateurs will be winding up their season with the popular Nyali Open Golf Championship down at Nyali Golf and Country Club course in Mombasa, the local professionals will be at Thika Greens Golf Resort from Sunday, for the fourth leg of the Safari Tour Golf Series.
The 72-hole event, the last in 2018 before the golfers go for the Christmas and New Year holidays, brings together a field of 46 players including a number of amateurs.
Players who are expected to tackle the local pros are from Tanzania and Uganda.
So far, the three legs played at Nyali, Vet Lab and Limuru Country Clubs produced some interesting results, showing some improvement among the locals, with Muthaiga’s Greg Snow leading the series with a narrow 1.5 point lead from the long-hitter Dismas Indiza who won the Uganda Open two and half months ago.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, the Kenya Open Golf Championship tournament director Patrick Obath, gave an update on the confirmed golfers and preparations.
“We so far have 46 confirmed professionals, among them one entrant from Uganda and three from Tanzania. We are delighted to once again host pros from the region and look forward to a highly competitive five days of Golf.”
Obath added: “It is exciting to see the level of competition increasing at the series, anyone can win, as you might remember the Limuru leg was won by an amateur, we can’t wait to see what Thika has in store for us."
Among those out to narrow Snow’s lead will be players like David Wakhu, Justus Madoya, John Wangai and Rizwan Charania with the field of five amateurs looking to replicate Michael Karanga’s great performance in Limuru.
Long-hitting Tanzania’s Nuru Mollel will be making a return to the tour after missing out on the Nyali and Limuru legs, with counterparts Fadhyl Nkya and Isaac Wanyeche making their maiden appearances.
Kenyan amateurs Akshay Chandaria from the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club and Zubair Khan from the Muthaiga Golf Club are expected to take part in the tournament.
The main tournament will be preceded by Saturday’s Pro-Am where the pros will be joined by over 100 players in the event which doubles up as the Lady Captain’s Prize for Thika Greens.
On Friday, over 30 children participated in a golf clinic which has been the case in the first three legs.
The Safari Tour, which is organized by the Kenya Open Golf Limited, is aimed at preparing Kenyan pro golfers for the 2019 Kenya Open Golf Championship.
