Balala finishes eighth in Abu Dhabi

Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) title holder Adel Balala shot two under-par 214 after three rounds of golf at this year's Abu Dhabi Amateur Championship played at the par 72 Saadiyat Beach Golf Club to finish eighth. 

The elite amateur golfer headed to Abu Dhabi a day after winning the final leg of the national amateur championship at the Nyali Open to clinch the KAGC title and carried with Jim the same form against formidable opposition. 

Balala up against a stellar field of 64 top amateurs invited for the Championship shot three under par 69 in the first round played on Tuesday 14 December to close the day tied second. 

On the second round played on Wednesday, he started on a high, picking a birdie on the first hole, just as he had in the first round. 

He, however, dropped shots at the par four fifth and the par three sixth for a 37 out. At the back nine, he made three birdies at the 10th, 15th and 17th while dropping shots at the par five eleventh and the par four sixteenth to level the field and maintain a three under-par 141. 

On the final round, the golfer who has already booked his ticket to the Magical Kenya Open slated for March 2022 and was using the Abu Dhabi event as part of his preparations for European Tour extravaganza, he shot one over-par 73 to finish 11th in the round and bring his three rounds total to two under-par.

Balala played a bogeyless front nine, picking a single birdie at the par four fifth to close the nine on 35. He was on the road to playing another perfect back nine but he dropped two shots at the par four 16th for 38 in and the day's 73. 

The amateur golfer will lead Kenya's amateur contingent as they are looking to break the jinx that has seen them miss out on the last two days of action at the Kenya Open for the last 12 years.

The last time an amateur made it to the last two rounds of the Open was in 2010 when it was named Tusker Kenya Open for sponsorship purposes and was still running as a European Challenge Tour series. Boniface Simwa, then playing off plus two handicap, made cut and went on to finish 38th overall.

Since then local amateurs have only come close to making cut after a good start but later dropping shots to miss the cutoff point. In 2014, Limuru Country Club’s John Karichu started off with three over par in the first round, followed it with an impressive four under par in the second round but was disqualified for carrying an extra club in his bag.

In 2016, Nyali-based Mathew Wahome, then a junior, shot three under 69 in the first round but made a number of bogeys in the second for a 77, to miss cut. French amateur Romain Langasque, who had been invited by the event organizers to the 2016 edition, went on to finish on 15 under par for second place, just three shots behind the winner of the pro title Sebastian Soderberg.