Home pro Wakhu makes cut at Kenya Savannah Classic

Home pro David Wakhu recovered from four bogeys to eventually post an impressive three under par 68 and a two rounds total of eight under midway the second round of the inaugural Kenya Savannah Classic at the par 71 Karen Country Club course Wednesday.

That definitely put him right into the cut where he will now try and better his score against the strong field that includes Magical Kenya Open winner Justin Harding of South Africa.

Starting at the back nine in the morning, Golf Park's Wakhu, who has tried several times to make the cut in the open without much success, said he dropped those shots on three putting.

“I had a brilliant start, hitting three straight birdies at the 10th,11th and 12th, but made an awful put at the 13th and later on at the 18th hole," said Wakhu, who thanked his sponsor Robert Keter and his USA-based friend for sponsoring him for the two events.

Coming the front nine, Wakhu hit a lose shot at the third and had a difficult shot to save a par, though he managed to recover by picking up back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth, which he said restored his confidence.

“During the Magical Kenya Open, I tried to improve in the second round by playing defensive which did not work and ended up missing the cut. Inspite of the bogeys I made, I must say my putting has improve a great deal and I will try and make some more birdies in the remaining two rounds, but at the same time try and protect what I already have," he added.

He said the field this year is very strong with very experienced players capable of making an average of seven birdies in a round.

“For us to beat these international players we have to make as many birdies if not more than them. We have to push ourselves harder in order to bring ourselves to their level of play."

While Wakhu was tying for eighth with players such as Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent and England’s Sam Horsfield, Harding was tying at the top with Scotland’s David Drysdale on 12 under par, and a shot better than Darren Fitchard of South Africa, who stood on 11 under par halfway the round.

Meanwhile, Thika Sports Club’s Simon Ngige shot an impressive five under par 66 for the day, but that could put him in 108th place on a total of one over par.

The cut was being projected at two under at 1.30pm where half of the field was still on the course battling it out.