Happening Now: Trump takes the lead in US presidential race
Day caddie golfer William Odeck clinched Kenya Open slot
Nyali Golf Club's William Odeck chips from 15th hole bunker during Uhuru Shield Golf Tournament at Royal Nairobi Golf Club on December 4, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Before this weekend, his best performance was a second place finish in the Nyanza Open two years ago.
- For the Kiambu-based Karanga, said he is now going for the KAGC series Order of Merit.
- “I gave it my best though I was not just lucky particularly after getting an eight at the par four-eighth hole, having dropped three shots earlier. Now I have no choice but to go full blast for the Order of Merit,’’ said Karanga.
William Odeck, a caddie golfer at Nyali Golf and Country Club, denied defending champion Michael Karanga an automatic qualification to next year’s Magical Kenya Open Championship, after beating him in the third hole of a three-hole play-off in Kenya Amateur Stroke Play Championship at the par 71 Nyali Golf and Club Course on Sunday.
The two had tied at the top with a 72-hole total of nine over par 293 gross, and the match proceeded to a three hole play- off in which Odeck went up by winning the first hole with a par.
Karanga, who had driven to the right bush at the par four-14th, managed to punch the ball out to lower side of the green, and missed the birdie narrowly for par, while Odeck, who was on the green, made a three put.
But on the third hole at the par three-18th, Karanga, who had missed the green, missed a par narrowly while Odeck parred to clinch the 47th edition of the Kenya Amateur Stroke Play tournament.
Besides getting 100 points towards the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC), he also took home Sh92,480 for winning the event.
“I am overwhelmed to have won this year’s stroke play tournament, and to qualify for the Kenya Open. When I shot 78 in the opening round, did not think I had any chance of winning here at all.
But after a 73 in the second round and a level par, it really motivated me to go for it in the final round,’’ Odeck, who is among five caddies under the sponsorship of the Germany-based Universal Lighthouse which also supports children from the streets of Mombasa as well as youth football, said.
Other caddies in that programme are captain John Timbe, Dickson Barasa, Solomon Majanga, and Kalamu Choyo. The group also has lady golfer Jacque Walter, formerly of Vipingo Ridge, who is now based in Karen, Nairobi.
Odeck, who started playing golf in Kisumu about 15 years ago, moved to Nyali in 2013 and his golf started improving, thanks to the support from the club and pro Fred Kamau who helped him correct his swing.
Before this weekend, his best performance was a second place finish in the Nyanza Open two years ago.
For the Kiambu-based Karanga, said he is now going for the KAGC series Order of Merit.
“I gave it my best though I was not just lucky particularly after getting an eight at the par four-eighth hole, having dropped three shots earlier. Now I have no choice but to go full blast for the Order of Merit,’’ said Karanga.
