Henry kamau took home advantage to swing into victory at the 105th edition of Coast Open Barry Cup that came to an end today at the par 72 Mombasa golf club.
Kamau emerged as the champion after firing two-under-par 211 over the three-day tournament with steady performance across the three rounds of 73, 67 and 71) to edge out Golf Park’s Sammy Mulama by a shot in the closely contested competition with Eldoret’s Danny Chelogoi finished third with a total score of 215(+2).
Kamau opened the tournament with a two-over-par 71 on Friday, after carding bogeys on the 3rd and 5th holes, a double bogey on the 7th, and recovering with birdies on the 8th and 14th, and pars in the rest. However, he had a superb round on Saturday with birdies in the 4th, 8th, 9th, 14th, 17th, and 18th and bogeys in just the 5th and the 15th, and the rest par to finish on four-under par 71 for the round.
He then wrapped it up in the third round on Sunday with birdies in the 11th and 17th and bogeys in the 5th and 18th as he parred the other holes to finish the round level on 71.
Mulama finished just one stroke behind the champion with a total score of 212 (-1), with rounds of 73, 70, and a final-day 69. In the closing round, he carded birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th holes, and managed to recover from a double bogey on the 6th to finish with a 33 on the front nine. His back nine in the round included steady pars and a birdie on the 11th, sealing his runner-up position.
Third-placed Chelogoi carded rounds of 71, 72, and 72. His final round was highlighted by a string of birdies on the 3rd, 10th, and 13th holes in the final round. Despite a double bogey on the 6th, he maintained composure to clinch the third position.
The tournament drew 65 top amateur players from across the country, and featured a total prize purse of KES 400,000, with Kamau taking home KES 92,500.
Despite missing the leg, Championship leader John Lejirma (2000 points) and second-placed Michael Karanga (1095) maintained their spots on the standings. Elvis Muigua (973) failed to capitalize on the opportunity to move closer to Karanga after finishing fifth in Mombasa.