Sammy Mulama traveled back to his home Club and returned to Nairobi with his maiden victory at the Trans Nzoia Open, the Kenya Amateur Golf Championships series at the par 73 Kitale golf club.
The Golf Park golfer fired an impressive two under par 71 in the last round on Sunday to claim the title on the club that he started golf with 20 years ago.
With poor performance in the opening two rounds on Friday and Saturday when he fired level par 73 and three over par 76, he managed to sink two under par 71 to claim the title.
“This title, I want to dedicate it to my family that has stood with me for long and I had to travel with my family who watched the final round when I won,” said Mulama.
He said that the tournament was good and well sponsored, attracting top golfers even though the course was not as good as expected.
“The win today came through because I was in a stable mind after missing out in so many tournaments and this, because I got support from my family. I wanted to play and win at my home because I started my golf here several years ago,” said Mulama.
In the final, he started off on a high note with a birdie in hole one, followed with a par in the second, dropped one in three parred in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th bogeyed in 8th and recovered with a par in the 9th in the first nine.
On his way to victory, he had three birdies in 10th, 14th and 15th parred in five holes: 11th, 12th, 13th, 16th and 17th before dropping one in 18th.
“As the first win in my KAGC career, I must celebrate to the top most. I have been missing many titles, finishing second or third in many events across the country and today, I was lucky for the title where I will celebrate with my family,” said Mulama.
It was a bad day for round one and round two leader John Lejirma. Lejirma fired four over par 77 to finish second after he was the favourite on the last day to miss out.
Lejirma, who was part of the team that competed at the Magical Kenya in March at the Muthaiga beat Michael Alunga to third.
Selected results
- Sammy Mulama 73 + 76 + 71 = 220
- John Lejirma 74 + 71 + 77 = 222
- Michael Alunga 74 + 77 + 74 = 225
- Josphat Rono 78 + 77 + 72 = 227
- Ebill Omollo (GTF) -3 74 + 75 + 79 = 228
- Geoffrey Karioki 77 + 79 + 73 = 229
- William Odeck (Cdy) 0 77 + 75 + 77 = 229
- Isaac Gitonga 77 + 81 + 72 = 230
- Nelson Koech 1 84 + 72 + 74 = 230
- KEVIN JUMA 73 + 76 + 83 = 232