Kairuki Nyaga, Anthony Gathura, Clifford Mugambi and Wambui Gitonga are the winners of a fully-paid-for trip to the iconic Fancourt Golf Estate courtesy of NCBA.
This is after the four emerged winners in the Division’s One, Two, Three and Ladies categories of the 2022 NCBA Golf Series Grand Finale played on Friday, December 10, 2022 at the Muthaiga Golf Club.
Kitale Golf Club’s Kariuki Nyaga playing off handicap 14 emerged the champion in Division One after carding a round of 40 points on, flooring a strong field of 70 players from various golf clubs across the country to claim the Series’ top honors.
He fended off a strong challenge from Lydia Mokaya (HC 21) who emerged second in the first division with 34 points.
In the Division Two category, Anthony Gathura (HC 22) scored 41 points to emerge the star, beating Lucy Kisia who carded a round of 39 points to emerge second.
In the Third Division, Clifford Mugambi was the champion having carded 36 points on the day.
Meanwhile, handicap 18 Wambui Gitonga’s 33 points were enough for her to claim the top position among the Ladies.
Commenting on his win, Nyaga said; I am really delighted to have emerged the winner of this tournament. This year’s competition has been really tough as golfers from all golf clubs brought their A-game. I was very consistent with my training as I prepared for this Grand Finale and I am glad that it paid off. I am very delighted to be among those who will be travelling to Fancourt Golf Estate and I look forward to it.”
In other results, Maanav Shah scored 41 points to claim the bragging rights among the juniors.
In the Nines challenge, Joseph Oballa and James Githinji were the stars having scored 23 and 22 points in the first and second nine respectively.
At the same time, Allan Oluoch and Rhoda Mwebesa were the stars in the Longest Drive challenge in the men and ladies categories respectively, while Jimmy Mwang’ondi clinched the Nearest to the Pin prize.
Speaking during the prize giving ceremony, NCBA Group Managing Director John Gachora said that the Series was a success, noting that the company had achieved its objectives.
“Last year’s edition of this series was undoubtedly one the most successful golf series in Kenya during the year. As we embarked on this year’s edition, therefore, we expected it to be even better and we therefore set out on a much more ambitious tournament. In its second year running, the NCBA Golf Series has traversed 14 golf clubs across Kenya and attracted participation of over 3,000 participants, stemming from various regions in Kenya and Uganda.
We also sought to up the tempo this time round with an even better prize for the Series champions, and that’s why we settled on a trip to the iconic Fancourt Golf Course. We believe this has been a key element in this series that has encouraged competitiveness,” said Gachora.
“This series has also been a blessing to us as NCBA as it has allowed us to interact with our customers stemming from all walks of life and backgrounds. It has served as an avenue for us to share our vision and get our customers to learn about and appreciate our various service offerings,” he added.
The event was the 16th on the 2022 NCBA Golf Series Calendar, where a strong field of 70 players who qualified to play through the 14 seniors’ events in the Series battled it out for the ultimate honor of being crowned the overall Series champion.
The playing field comprised five top finishers – Division One, Division Two, Division Three, Junior, and Ladies’ categories winners – from each of the 14 amateur events.
Following the Grand Finale the Series will conclude with a junior golf tournament that will be held at the Limuru Country Club next week from the 15th to the 16th of December