Kenya Railway Golf Club’s Samuel Mwaura carded a round of 37 points on the opening event of the 2022 NCBA Golf Series at his home club on Saturday to claim the win in the division one category.
Playing off handicap eight, Samuel’s effort was enough to fend off the challenge by Walter Onyino who closed his round with a similar haul of points, albeit playing off handicap seven. Division one players are categorized as golfers who rank between handicaps zero and nine.
Speaking after his round, Samuel said:
“This event was unmissable. So, I came and played and holed seven pars, three birdies and a few bogeys and ended winning division one. I emerged the winner and hope to travel to The Fan Court Golf Estate in South Africa.”
In the second division (consisting of golfers with handicaps 10-18), Sam Onyambu, playing off handicap 17, carded a round of 39 points to top the division ahead of Ronnie Maina, playing off handicap 16, who ended his round with a haul of 37 points.
In the third division (consisting of golfers with handicaps 19 and more), Onyango Obiero, playing off handicap 28, carded a total of 39 points to seal the win ahead of Dr. Gachuno who managed 36 points playing off handicap 25.
Among the lady golfers, Night Doris, playing off handicap 24, carded a round of 37 points to emerged lady winner, while NCBA Group’s Rahab Wanjiru, playing off handicap 34, was the staff winner with 32 points.
In the nines, James Karuga and Susan Koinange took top honours in the first and second nine with 20 points apiece. In the longest drive contest, Mike Mbugua and Jane Ndirangu were the day’s winners in the men’s and ladies’ categories, while George Kiai won the nearest to the pin contest.
The Kenya Railway Golf Club leg was the series opener to the NCBA Golf Series’ sophomore season, which will feature 18 legs and will have an expanded schedule covering Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Like the inaugural edition last year, the Series will include three junior golf tournaments in partnership with U.S. Kids Golf. The Series will culminate in a grand finale tournament where the top four winners will enjoy a fully sponsored golf tour at The Fan Court Golf Estate in South Africa.
Commenting on the Series, NCBA Group Head of Corporate Banking, Charles Omondi said:
“We are going to be having 15 amateur tournaments in the country and three junior events as part of our Series this yea. The grand finale will be at the Muthaiga Golf Club with the best four players winning a trip to South Africa. We see junior golfers are the future of tomorrow and want to encourage them to play more golf, give them a lot of discipline and to put in the hard work into the game. For us as a brand, we will walk the journey with them, and the hard work will eventually show up when they become grown-ups.”
The Series now moves to the Nyanza Club on the 12th of March for the second leg