Emmanuel Saina fired four rare birdies to lift the Inter-county golf tournament played on nine hole Eldoret golf club over the weekend.
The 4th year student at the Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) cared a solid 45 stable ford points to lift the title in a crowded field of golfers drawn from Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet counties among other counties in the country.
With three birdies in the opening nine, Saina started off with birdie in the first hole par five, dropped one in 2, 3 and 4 pars 3, 4 and 4 respectively but recovered well with a par on 5 par 3, birdied in 6th par 4, bogeyed in 7th par 3 recovered with a par in 8th and completed the first half with birdie in 9th. With such good results, he played six over par gross.
He said his results came in after intense daily training at the club hoping to register another win in the next tournament at the club.
“I always have intense training daily, hitting 200 balls everyday. Through that, I gained some skills and gave me good results over the weekend that I want to extend to the next tournament,” said Saina.
With a good start in the first half, his second was not easy after he dropped two in the in 10th par 5, dropped one in 11th and 12th and set a par in 13th. His swing was good in 14th as he birdied on par 4, parred in 15th, 16th an 17th before dropping two in 18th.
“In my training, I normally do much of chipping, putting and swinging to ensure that I get it right. Heading into the next tournament, I want to register back to back wins,” added the Hospitality and Hotel Management student.
Playing handicap 17, Saina edged out experienced and long hitting Aron Kitur who plays handicap 5 to second position with 40 points as deputy captain Nathan Tororei completed the podium with 38.
Tororei beat Nandi’s Eng Kipkemoi on 36 as former club captain Sandeep Grewal edged out Mildred Natecho on count back with 35 points.