A par in the last hole handed Elvis Muigua back to back victories at the inaugural Great Rift valley Championships, the second leg of Kenya Amateur Golf Championships (KAGC) at the par 71 Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha, Nakuru County.
After winning the opening round of Sigona Bowl in Sigona, the Kiambu junior player fired three over par 74 in the third and final round for accumulated +12 225 to win the title.
Facing off with Chris Andreas in final round of the 54 hole tournament that teed off on Friday, Muigua managed to sink a par while Andreas dropped two shots to automatically win with one shot.
Muigua, who last season won both Trans Open in Kitale and Goldfields in Kakamega said that he played under a lot of pressure especially in the last day.
“After winning Sigona Bowl, pressure was on me and coming into the final round today (Sunday) we had tied at the top and that was another pressure on how to control the game. In the last hole, he was a head of me by a shot but I managed to control and with a par, I won with a shot,” said Muigua.
In the opening nine, Muigua and Andreas went head to head with Muigua firing pars in 1,2,4,6,7,8 and 9, dropping a shot in 3 and 5 while Anderas had pars in 1,2,3,4, 6,7,8 with bogeys in 5 and 9 to all play level 37.
At the inward nine, the champion fired two birdies in 13th and 16th with pars in 10th, 11th, 14th, 15th and 18th, dropping a shot and two in 17th and 12th for 37 while his challenger managed a birdie in 16th, a bogey in 10th and double bogey in 19th with all pars for 38 to hand Muigua the win.
The three day 54 hole tournament teed off on Friday came to an end on Sunday, which is also a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) that attracted 65 amateurs, seeking maximum points ahead of 2025 Magical Kenya Open.
With the victory, Muigua has set focus on African amateur championships set for next weekend in South Africa from February 19th to 23rd
Final leader board
- Elvis Muigua (Kiambu) 77, 74, 74= 225
- Chris Andreas (Ruiru) 76, 75, 75= 226
T3. John Lejirma (Kenya railways) 79, 78, 73=230
T3. Francis Ng’ang’a (Great Rift) 75, 80, 75= 230
T5. Kevin Barasa (Great Rift) 78, 78, 75= 231
T5. Joyce Wanjiru (Kiambu) 76, 77, 78= 231
7. Ebill Omollo (Vet Lab) 73, 84, 76= 233
8. Titus Okwong (UGA) 77, 79, 78= 233