Kenya Railway Golf Club’s Samuel Njoroge
Golf Park’s Erick Ooko remained at the top of the leader board after returning a two-under-par 142 on the second day of the Safari Golf tour at Limuru Country Golf Club.
Ooko blamed a few bad birdies particularly at the back nine, however, said he is still looking forward to some better scores in the last two rounds.
“My iron game is excellent except I could not get some of my putts in which cost me some birdies and a better finish’’ said Ooko who got off with a birdie three at the par four-first hole though he dropped a shot soon after.
He however managed to cross to the back nine on two under after a birdie at the par five-third and the ninth. The back nine was not however his best as he dropped shots over the 11th and 13th for two over par and his level par 72 which left him at the top on two under par 142.
On the other hand, Uganda Open champion Justus Madoya remcuttingained in second place this time also on his own after a level-par 72. He equally blamed poor putting for not getting onto the top of the leaderboard. “I had four good chances for birdies but did not make use of them though it is the double at the 13th which made it even worse.
“But that aside, I am still within a reach of my 12 under par projection, with two more rounds to go’’ added Madoya from the Great Valley Golf Resort who dropped a shot at the fifth after picking up a birdie at the third. He was however able to level the back nine despite the double at the 13th, after rolling in two birdies at the 15th and 18th.
Meanwhile, Kenya Railway Golf Club’s Samuel Njoroge who had shared the first-round lead with Ooko dropped to joint third with Vet Lab’s Mike Kisia and Edwin Mudanyi. Njoroge shot three-over-par 75 for one over par 145 while Mudanyi posted one over par 73.
Kisia on the other shot so far the best round in the tournament, a four-under-par 68, a score which included four birdies, and an eagle at the home green (18th). He however dropped two shots at the front nine. Making his first attempt to the top was Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi who shot one-under-par 71 to move to seventh place on three over par 147. A total of 26 players made the eight over par 152 cut and will now be chasing the top prize of Sh300,000.
Those cutting included two amateurs John Kariuki of Limuru and a junior player Njoroge Kibugu of Muthaiga who shot five-over-par 77, one better than Kariuki who had started with a 73.
