Snow the man to beat as Safari Tour heads to Limuru

The hunt for places in the 2024 Magical Kenya Open, a DP World Tour, shifts to Limuru Country Club in Kiambu County, for the fourth leg of Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) organised Safari Tour golf series.

Coming three days after the third leg held at Sigona Golf Club, the Limuru event whose opening round is set for Sunday, has attracted a field of 63 players drawn from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

And leading the challenge in the ABSA bank sponsored tournament where Sh1 million will again be at stake, will be Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow who scored a narrow one shot victory against his club-mate Njoroge Kibugu, to win the third leg at Sigona.

“My plan in the next event is to remain focused, stay within my game plan and play solid golf. Limuru is not that strange to me as I have won an event there before. It’s a tough course and one has to be focused,’’ said Snow, after taking his Sh150,000 winner’s cheque.

Currently in fifth place in the “Race to the Magical Kenya Open’’ with 107 points, Snow would definitely want to win at Limuru to assure himself a starting place during the Magical Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club from February 22.

But just like Sigona, Snow will have to encounter a strong opposition from among others, Samuel Njoroge from Kenya Railway Golf Club, Sigona’s Mohit Mediratta, Daniel Nduva of Nyali, Mutahi Kibugu, the evergreen Dismas Indiza who at the age of 55, is still giving the young professionals a good run for their money.

In fact, Indiza currently leads in the “Road to Magical Kenya Open’’ with a total of 163 points, 28  clear of Samuel Njoroge.

This follows his victory in the first leg, the Uganda Open, held at Uganda Golf Club in Kampala last November.

He tied for fourth place at Sigona with Thika Sports Club’s Simon Ngige on six under par 282 with rounds of 73, 70, 69, 70. He earned 41 points, a clear indication that he is still at his best.

“I missed the cut narrowly during last year’s Kenya Open, and my target this year is not just to qualify but make sure I do better than last year,’’ said Indiza who has been playing golf for 45 years.

Proudly sponsored by ABSA Bank, the fourth leg starts with a Pro-Am event on Saturday where some of the pros who have been included to play, will have an opportunity to sample the tough Limuru course before they tee off on Sunday morning.

For the non-Kenyan pros who are chasing the two slots usually reserved for the regional players in the Kenya Open, Uganda’s Abraham Ainamani is in eighth place in the Kenya Open chase, with a total for 60 points, just three better than Zimbabwe’s Visitor Mapwanya.

He tied for 14th place at Sigona with Nyali’s Daniel Nduva on seven over par 295 and will have to give his best at Limuru against players like Malawi’s Paul Chidale, Nigeria’s Gift Willy, Ronald Rugumayo of Uganda and Zimbabwe’s Visitor Mapwanya who won at Muthaiga last year.

Teeing off for Sunday’s opening round is set for 7.30am.