Vipingo Safari Tour enters final round with trio tied at the top
Greg Snow follows his shot from 18th hole fairway during Magical Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi on March 03, 2022.
What you need to know:
- During Tuesday’s third round, the Ugandan Rugumayo who finished second in his country’s Open at the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort, shot one under par to bring his scores to four over par 220 to tie at the top with round one leader Greg Snow and Muthaiga Golf Club’s Mutahi Kibugu'
- Snow made a double at the par three-17th but two earlier birdies and the closing one at the 18th saw him remain at the top
- Nyali’s Daniel Nduva meanwhile dropped to fourth place on five over par 77 after picking up six bogeys including a double at the 16th where most of the players have not been able to make pars leave alone birdies
Three players including Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo tied at the top of the leader board going into Wednesday’s fourth and final round of the 2022 Safari Tour third leg at the par 72 PGA Baobab Course at Vipingo Ridge Kilifi County.
During Tuesday’s third round, the Ugandan Rugumayo who finished second in his country’s Open at the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort, shot one under par to bring his scores to four over par 220 to tie at the top with round one leader Greg Snow and Muthaiga Golf Club’s Mutahi Kibugu.
Rugumayo, who joined the tour in 2019 after turning professional said he was pleased with his performance so far.
“My game has been improving gradually from the time I joined the Tour until a month ago when I finished second at Lake Victoria, and I believe it’s a matter of time before I finish at the top,’’ said Rugumayo who picked up a doble-bogey at the par three-eighth after hitting a bad shot, having also dropped shots at the third, and two birdies at the second and fourth.
He however managed to pick up four birdies at the back nine including a 15-footer at the 18th to tie at the top and grab a chance for a possible victory.
Snow on the other hand, said he was going for the title in the closing round.
“Today I hit very many bad shots and the round did not go the way I had planned, but I am definitely going for it tomorrow. My worst hole was actually the eighth, where I hit palm trees while at the second hole, I had a poor take-off also from the tee and the results were not very good,’’ said Snow.
He made a double at the par three-17th but two earlier birdies and the closing one at the 18th saw him remain at the top but with the company of Rugumayo and Mutahi who moved to the top for the first time. Mutahi said he will also go for the title, if the conditions allow him.
“I played here many years ago as a junior and did not realise how difficult this course can be, though I am very happy to move to the top. This has given me a chance to try and grab my first title in the Tour,’’ said Kibugu who dropped two shots at the front nine and made a birdie in each of the nines for one over par 73 and a three rounds total of four over par 220.
Nyali’s Daniel Nduva meanwhile dropped to fourth place on five over par 77 after picking up six bogeys including a double at the 16th where most of the players have not been able to make pars leave alone birdies. This gave him a total of five over par 221, just a shot behind the three leaders and a still with a good chance of striking back to the top of the leaderboard at the end of it all.
The Leaderboard
Ronald Rugumayo (Ug) 75, 74, 71= 220
Mutahi Kibugu 74, 73, 73= 220
Greg Snow 72, 72, 76= 220
Daniel Nduva 74, 70, 77= 221
Robson Chinhoi(Zim) 77, 73, 72= 222
Nyasha Muyambo (Zim) 75, 71, 79=225.
