Chinhoi snatches Nyali Open title from Kenyans, again

A bad day in the office for day three leader Simon Ngige saw him relegate top place to Zimbabwean Robson Chinhoi who returned a one-over-par 72 in the final round played on Wednesday to lift the seventh leg of the Safari Tour golf series at the par 71 Nyali Golf and Country Club course.

Chinhoi who has been in Kenya since the on-going 2020/21 series teed off the day well, picking up an early birdie at the par-five first hole, but hit a bad approach at the second hole, to drop two shots. He managed to pick one shot at the fifth.

At the back nine, Chinhoi birdied the 11th and parred all the way up to the 18th where he had a long putt for a birdie. He missed the birdie plus a par to finish the round with a bogey and one over par 72 which gave him an all rounds total of one over par 285 to pocket Sh150,000.

“I am hitting the ball pretty well so far but putting was bad and it has actually been bad since I went home after the 2019/2020 season as I stayed there without playing or practicing. The course was not that difficult and one can easily make some good scores if one putts well. Only a few holes presented a challenge. I am happy that my game is all set for the Magical Kenya Open, although I will have to work on my putting to make sure that I am ready,” said Chinhoi who won the second leg at Royal Nairobi, then went on to claim the Uganda Open title.

It was a great day for veteran Dismas Indiza who fired a bogey-free five-under-par 66 on a final round to go second, having closed the third round in fifth place. He tied for second place with Muthaiga’s Greg Snow on two over par 286.

Indiza made three successive birdies on the third, fourth and fifth to carry to the back nine, a three-under-par score. He played a rather conservative back nine, parring all the way to the par-five-17th where he eagled the hole. He missed the green at the 18th, but chipped well to about a foot, for an easy par and the day’s 66.

“I am now driving well after getting myself a new Callaway driver at the Nyali pro shop and I believe it made a great contribution to my final round, as I hit most of the fairways though my putting is still not very fine. I am working on it and hopefully, I should be able to return a better score at Muthaiga next week,” said Indiza.

For Snow who shot three-under-par 68, for 286, his focus now is on the Magical Kenya Open. “I obviously wish to play well at Muthaiga and probably post a better score than 13 under but my focus right now is on the Open next month’’ said Snow who also leads in the Safari Tour Order of Merit.

Day three leader Ngige, dropped a shot after a shot to eventually finish with six over par 77 which saw him drop to fourth place on five over par 289 and a paycheque of Sh75,000 while Indiza and Snow took home Sh90,000.

Day two leader Golf Park’s David Wakhu shot seven over par 78, to finish in fourth place on 10 over par 294. He had started well, picking up a birdie at the first hole, but made several three-putts to bogey the third, eighth and ninth in the front nine and the 10tt, 12th, 16th, and 17th holes.

“Slow play particularly on the greens just got into my head and I could not drop in even some easy putts though I was hitting the ball well off the tee’’ said Wakhu.

Action in the tour now shifts to Muthaiga Golf Club for the eighth leg which starts with the Pro-Am before the pros embark on the main event.