Home player Sandhu regains lead at Stroke Play Championship
Jay Sandhu of Royal Nairobi Golf Club follows the progress of his shot from the second tee on September 20, 2020 during the final of the Kenya Amateur Match Play Championship at Vet Lab Sports Club.
What you need to know:
- Balala is now a shot behind Kibugu on 224 while Maara is on 225.
- The winner will earn a place in the 2021 Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship at Karen Country Club in March.
Home player Jay Sandhu regained his lead going into Saturday’s final round of the 2020 Kenya Amateur Stroke Play Championship at the par 72 Royal Nairobi Golf Club.
The plus one handicap Sandhu, a losing finalist in the Match Play Championship two weeks ago at Vet Lab, shot one under par 71 on Friday to bring his total score to two over par 218, five shots clear of Muthaiga’s Mutahi Kibugu who moved to second place after firing two under par 70 for a three rounds total of seven over par 223.
During the third round, Sandhu birdied the sixth and seventh holes at the front nine and later on the 15th but made two bogeys at the 10th and 14th.
“I'm doing my best, so far things are working well, as my form has been good since the Match Play Championship at Vet Lab. The course here is in great shape, playing quite long. The rain earlier this week helped soften it up," said Sandhu.
Kibugu birdied the third and fifth against two bogeys at the first and sixth though he managed to recover two shots at the two par five-14th and 15th at the back nine for the day’s 70.
On the other hand, Nyali’s Adel Balala dropped to third place after poor 78 in the third round which also saw Limuru’s Dennis Maara posting 77.
Balala is now a shot behind Kibugu on 224 while Maara is on 225.
Another local player Kevin Juma meanwhile stayed in fifth place after a 76 in the third round where he missed a number of birdie chances.
However, the other Royal player Quram Bhatti found the going tough, as he returned five over par 77 to tie with Muthaiga’s Taimur Malik on 14 over par 230.
Defending champion Victor Joseph of Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club made an improvement, firing three over par 75, but it was an improvement coming rather late, after two bad rounds of 82 and 78.
He was on 19 over par tying for 11th place. “Putting has been my biggest problem this week despite having spent some time on the practise green," said Joseph.
This year for the first time, the Kenya Golf Union (KGU) introduced a second round cut which saw the top 45 players on 27 over par and better, proceeding to the last two rounds.
The fourth and final round is set for 7.30am Saturday with the leading group of Sandhu, Kibugu and Balala set to tee off at 9.30am.
The winner will earn a place in the 2021 Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship at Karen Country Club in March.
The leader board after round three:
Jay Sandhu 72, 75, 71 = 218
Mutahi Kibugu 77, 76, 70 = 223
Adel Balala 74, 72, 78 = 224
Dennis Maara 77, 71, 77 = 225
Kevin Juma 75, 75, 76 = 226
Simon Karari 79, 76, 74 = 229
Taimur Malik 74, 77, 79 = 230
Quram Bhatti 74, 79, 77 = 230
