Njoroge Kibugu of Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club is in celebration again after a back-to-back victory at the Nyali leg of the Sunshine Development Tour-East Africa Swing that ended at the par 71 Nyali Golf and Country Club course in Mombasa County on Thursday.
Kibugu held his nerve in a tense final round to close the 54-hole tournament on a total of 2-over-par 215 gross in the third leg of the Tour after recently clinching another victory in the tour’s second leg at Ruiru.
The 22-year-old Kibugu started on a bad note with a 4 over par 75 gross, improved with a 3 under par 68 gross on the second day and a final-round score of 1 over-par 72 gross to seal a well-earned victory that also earned him a Ksh. 400,000 from the winner’s share of the Sh2 million prize purse.
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“It feels good to win for the second time in this tour and in the fashion I did. I am over the moon about it,” said Kibugu. Everything today was emotional, happy, angry and sad. Towards the end, my caddie gave me a lot of motivation. From the 10th, my swing wasn’t great today. I was battling to get the holes right. It’s interesting waiting to find out if you’re going to be the winner or not. I feel like I did enough to win, but I was prepared for any eventuality nonetheless,” Kibugu said after lifting the trophy, becoming the first player to win the tour twice.
Kibugu edged out home favorite Daniel Nduva and Rwanda’s Celestin Nsazuwera, who tied for second slot at 3 over-par 216 gross each and were rewarded with Sh179,000 each for their exploits.
The home player Daniel Nduva played the crowd favorite with the day’s second-best round on a composed 1 under-par 70 gross after opening with birdies on the 1st and 5th, neutralized by bogeys on the 4th and 7th.
On the return nine, he added birdies at the 11th, 13th, and 15th, dropping shots on the 12th and 17th.
“I am happy with my performance. I got off to a good start, a birdie on the first hole, and after five holes I was under par. I made some good birdies on the 11th, 13th and 15th which got me back into the lead, but coming down the stretch I made a silly mistake on 17 that cost me a bogey and first place. But all in all, I had a good week and I’m looking forward to Diani,” said Nduva.
Rwanda’s Celestin Nsazuwera who entered the final round tied for the lead played a steady front nine with a single bogey on the 6th.
The Kigali Golf Resort professional dropped two shots on the 12th but briefly rekindled hope with a birdie at the 17th and a closing bogey on the18th saw him fall just short of a playoff.
“The position I got wasn’t what I expected, but I took it. I got disappointed that I made some mistakes on some holes which cost me, especially hole 12 where I double bogeyed, and the last one where I made some wrong decisions. From the 18th tee, I thought I was one shot behind, which I wasn’t, so I aggressively went for birdie, but it wasn’t necessary. I overshot and that cost me.” said Nsazuwera.
Tied for fourth on 5 over-par 218 gross were David Wakhu of Golf Park and Nigeria’s Olapade Sunday.
Wakhu’s final round featured a birdie on the 9th but a bogey on the 4th and a costly double bogey on the 7th derailed his front nine with additional double bogey on the 12th and bogeys on 16 and 18 at the back nine proved too much to overcome despite a birdie on the 15th.
Olapade overcame a tough front nine with bogeys on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th, but came alive on the back nine with birdies at the 11th, 13th, 16th, and 17th, dropping just one more shot on the par-4 14th.
Tied for sixth on 8 over-par 221 gross each were Samuel Njoroge of Kenya Railway Golf Club and amateur Adel Balala (Nyali), the highest-placed amateur of the tournament.
The event featured the top 30 players and ties from the 70 player starting field with Ksh. 2 million in prize money and Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points on offer.
The Nyali event was proudly supported by Kenya Breweries through its premium spirit’s brand Johnnie Walker brand, Magical Kenya (Kenya Tourism Board) and other partners.
The Sunshine Development Tour-East Africa Swing now moves to the South Coast for the fourth leg, scheduled for Friday,9th to Sunday 11th August at Diani’s Diamond Leisure Beach & Golf Resort, as the race for the Order of Merit intensifies.