Snow grabs lead at Karen
Greg Snow follows his chip from 18th hole fairway during the third round of the 11th leg of the Safari Tour at the at Karen Country Club on February 25, 2020. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- The top eight Kenyan players in the Order of Merit based on the 11 events will qualify to play in the Magical Kenya Open at the same venue from March 12 to 15.
- Two slots reserved for the regional players will be taken by Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi and Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh after their challenger, Philip Kasozi from Uganda missed the cut by one shot.
Kenya’s Greg Snow finally grabbed the lead going into Wednesday’s final round of the 2019/2020 Safari Tour 11th leg. despite bogeying six holes in the third round at the par 71 Karen Country Club course on Tuesday.
Playing with day two leader Alloys Nsabimana of Rwanda and Erick Ooko, Snow made three impressive birdies at the sixth, eighth and ninth, having made an early bogey at the third and at the start of the back nine, and he appeared headed to a low score where he made two more birdies at the 11th and 12th.
However, Snow dropped shot after shot from the 13th up to the 18th with only pars on the 16th and 17th for one over par 72 and three rounds total of one under par 212, to establish a narrow one shot lead from day two leader Alloys Nsabimana, who bogeyed four holes at the front nine and two at the back nine, for a four over par 75 and an aggregate of 213.
“Today was not a good day for me as I made several bogeys and only two birdies," said the 23-year-old Nsabimana, who chipped in from 40 feet into the hole at the 18th for one of his two birdies, having pushed his approach shot to the short rough off the green.
Meanwhile, long hitting Dismas Indiza moved to joint third with Zambia’s Madalitso Muthiya after a round of level par 71 for 214, with Muthiya, the Uganda Open champion, having shot one over par 72, his second in a row, to also wind up the day on 214. Two others, Deo Akope of Uganda and Kenya’s Erick Ooko tied for fifth place on 215.
“I missed many birdie opportunities, though I had many chances which I did not utilize them. But it is not over yet, anything can happen in the last round," said Ooko, who shot three over par 74 with only two birdies coming on the ninth and 17th.
A total of 21 players made the second round cut to vie for a share of the Sh3 million prize fund, courtesy of Magical Kenya, Absa and Johnnie Walker, where the overall winner will take home Sh450,000.
The top eight Kenyan players in the Order of Merit based on the 11 events will qualify to play in the Magical Kenya Open at the same venue from March 12 to 15.
Two slots reserved for the regional players will be taken by Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi and Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh after their challenger, Philip Kasozi from Uganda missed the cut by one shot.
The Leader board;
Greg Snow 69, 71, 72= 212
Alloys Nsabimana (Rwa) 70, 68, 75= 213
Dismas Indiza 71, 72, 71= 214
Madalitso Muthiya (Zam) 70, 72, 72= 214
Deo Akope (Ug) 73, 74, 68= 215
Erick Ooko 73, 68, 74= 215
Jeff Kubwa 73, 73, 70= 216
Simon Ngige 75, 71, 70= 216
