Home player Njoroge Kibugu returned a blemish-free score card, having shot a round of 8-under par, 64, to set an early marker on the opening day Sunshine Development Tour, East Africa at the par 72 Thika Greens Golf club.
Kibugu carded eight birdies; at the first, fourth, sixth, ninth, eleventh, twelfth and eighteenth, to give him a four-stroke lead ahead of the chasing pack, led by Karen Country Club’s Edwin Mudanyi, whose late charge up the leaderboard saw him finish on a score of 4-under par, 68.
Kibugu said; “It was a brilliant round, everything worked well today, especially my putting. This puts me in a great place heading into round two, I’ll try keep doing what I have done today and see where that takes me.”
“I haven’t played a tournament in two months and have been working on staying patient and didn’t come here with many expectations. It was great to see all the work we’ve put in, come into place, I will be happier if it continues working going into tomorrow.” He added.
Mudanyi sits one stroke ahead of Kenya’s elite amateur Michael Karanga who finished the round in third after carding 3-under par, 69. He sits ahead of a five-way tie for fourth that features Tanzania’s Abdallah Dullah, Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo, Kenya’s Dismas Indiza, Daniel Nduva, and Simon Ngige, who finished the round at 2-under par, 70.
It was generally a low scoring round, with 17 players out of the field of 76, returning scores of par or better.
On his part, Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo was happy with his round, “Two-under par for the round, I am happy with it, I’ll take it. The leader has set the pace, I know what I have to work on so I can catch up.”
“Playing in such events is a dream come true for the East African region’s professional, personally I flew from South Africa to play here. As a region, we haven’t been playing much golf previously, hence our performances at the big stages such as the Kenya Open. I want to urge all the region’s pros to take advantage of this tour.” He Added.
Round two action, is set to tee off at 8’Oclock, with players jostling to make the CUT to play through the final round and earn a stake of the KES 2 Million prize fund on offer.