Golf: Four Kenyans through to second round at Cote D’Ivoire Open
Njoroge Kibugu of Muthaiga Golf Club follows the progress of his tee shot from 18th hole tee box during the fourth leg of 2022/23 Safari Tour at Sigona Golf Club on January 17, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Leading the four in the in the remaining field of 30 players who will now fight it out for the prize money, was Muthaiga Golf Club’s Njoroge Kibugu who shot two under par 70 to bring his aggregate so far to five under par 139 in fourth place on his own.
- Tying for 14th place with another Kenyan player Mutahi Kibugu and Alimamy Abubakkar of Sierra Leone, was Justas Madoya of the Great Rift Valley Golf Resort
- French player Ahoua Ahoua shot one under par 71 to remain at the top of the leaderboard with a total of eight under par 136
Only four Kenyan pros went through the five-over par second round cut in the 23rd edition of the Cote D’Ivoire Open golf tournament at the President Golf Club course in Yamoussoukro on Wednesday.
And leading the four in the remaining field of 30 players who will now fight it out for the prize money, was Muthaiga Golf Club’s Njoroge Kibugu who shot two under par 70 to bring his aggregate so far to five under par 139 in fourth place on his own.
Meanwhile, tying for 14th place with another Kenyan player Mutahi Kibugu and Alimamy Abubakkar of Sierra Leone, was Justas Madoya of the Great Rift Valley Golf Resort.
Madoya who started off with three over par 75 during the opening round, fired two under par 70, same with Mutahi Kibugu, for a total of one over par 145.
The fourth Kenyan to survive the second round cut was Edwin Mudanyi of Vet Lab who shot 75 for two over par 146. The Kenyans were joined by Uganda’s Marvin Kibirige who carded 75 for a two rounds total of four over par 148 to tie with Togo’s Kossivi Agbavon.
Professional Golfers of Kenya President John Wangai missed the cut by a mere shot after posting 77 in the second round while Jacob Okello and Eric Ooko were down on 41st and 44th place with 154 and 155 respectively.
Also missing the cut was Uganda’s Abby Bagalana who carded 79 having started off with 73 in the opening round.
Meanwhile, French player Ahoua Ahoua shot one under par 71 to remain at the top of the leaderboard with a total of eight under par 136. He is just two shots better than Zimbabwe’s Visitor Mapwanya who shot his second 69 for six under par 138, tying for second place with Ghana’s Francis Torgah who brought home 68.
Dropping to tying for sixth was Robson Chinhoi courtesy of his second round 74, having started off with a 67 in the opening round.
A total of 63 players had been listed to play in the four rounds tournament which enters its third round on Thursday from 7.30am.
A total of Sh5 million is at stake for the pros with the winner set to take home Sh1 million.
