Following a dismal performance by regional pros, plans are afoot to start an East African circuit with the view to prepare regional players ahead of the Kenya Open.
Only three locals—Dismas Indiza, Mathew Omondi and Bryan Njoroge—out of the over 30 Kenyans made the cut. Dimsas Indiza finished the event as top Kenyan, despite a three over par 75 on Sunday that saw him drop back into a share of 28th, having entered the final round in the top ten.
Tournament director, Patrick Obath said the regional tour will help prepare players in the region adequately and will also inject quality into the Kenya Open.
Apart from Kenyans, only two players from the region namely Deo Akope of Uganda and Rwanda’s Jean-Baptiste Hakizimana landed invites from organisers.
Obath had earlier reiterated that they have an obligation as organisers to add value to the Kenya Open.
Meanwhile, top Kenyan pro Dismas Indiza yesterday admitted playing badly in the last round of the Barclays Bank Kenya Open Championship which folded curtains to the European Challenge Tour event at the par 72 Karen Country Club on Sunday.
Regarded the finest pro golfer in Kenya at the moment, Indiza hinted playing competitive golf in one of the Challenge Tour rounds in the Middle East mid this year.
The 46-year-old Mumias-based professional teed off round four on 8 under but dropped shots in the last two holes (17 and 18). “I blame it all on bad chipping and putting,” said Indiza, who played a disgusting round of 2 over par 74 to end his campaign with a 5 under par 283 gross. Indiza finished this year’s tournament in joint 28th position.
Brian Njoroge was the second placed Kenyan in position 59 with a total score of 2 over par 290. Another Kenyan Mathew Omondi from Sigona finished joint 63rd position with 9 over par 297. Barclays Kenya Open is the season opener for the Challenge Tour this season following the cancelation of Madeira Islands Open in Portugal last month.
“On hole one, I thought I could get a par but it ended up being a bogey. I tried to get a birdie on the second hole but ended up with a par. Number 4 was all good but again got a bogey on hole 5. I got another bogey on hole 7 just like last year. I feel this Kenya Open should come after a series of events like we did over the past few months. We expected Kenyans to play well and I think fatigue took toll on most of the players,” he said.
Indiza urged corporates to continue supporting the games to enable younger players like Greg Snow and Nelson Mudanyi take their golfing skills to the next level. Indiza refuted claims that crowd pressure distracted his game.
“I think the crowd this year didn’t put me under immense pressure like they did last year.
“Last year, spectators really crowded me and I found it difficult to concentrate with my game. This year, fans weren’t that close so I was able to focus. But again it’s always good playing with spectators because that shows they have faith in you and they know that you are actually the country’s main hope. For the last 15 years, I have been playing with spectators so it’s something that I am used to,” said Indiza.
Final scores from the Barclays Kenya Open:
271 H Porteous (RSA) 66 65 72 68
271 B Stone (RSA) 69 66 67 69,
272 G Woolgar (Eng) 70 66 69 67
273 S Walker (Eng) 69 68 67 69
275 D Huizing (Ned) 67 68 69 71
276 V Riu (Fra) 69 67 72 68
276J Makitalo (Fin) 68 68 72 68
276 J Fahrbring (Swe) 68 73 68 6
277 E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 66 72 72 67
277 J Lima (Por) 64 69 72 72
277 A Marshall (Eng) 69 71 68 69
278 R Gouveia (Por) 70 68 68 72
279 C Bouniol (Fra) 68 67 75 69
279 J Winther (Den) 69 71 69 70
279 M Søgaard (Den) 70 71 67 71
280 D Ulrich (Sui) 67 69 71 73
280 J Glennemo (Swe) 72 70 70 68
280 M Orrin (Eng) 71 68 71 70,
281 S Manley (Wal) 70 69 70 72
281 R Kellett (Sco) 69 69 68 75 S Heisele (Ger) 66 74 69 72
280 J Hansen (Den) 70 72 67 72
280 R McGee (Irl) 69 69 74 69 280 L De Jager (RSA) 69 67 75 70
282 A Hartø (Den) 68 70 71 73
282 D Law (Sco) 70 68 71 73
282 N Ravano (Ita) 71 70 71 70
283 D Indiza Anyonyi (Ken) 69 69 70 75
283 S Brown (Eng) 68 72 72 71 283 E Dubois (Fra) 73 68 68 74
283 J Legarrea (Esp) 69 69 72 73
283 B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 69 68 74 72
283 P Howard (Eng) 71 68 73 71
284 J Stalter (Fra) 69 68 73 74 284 S Griffiths (Eng) 70 71 75 68
284 D Stewart (Sco) 71 70 72 71
284 P Widegren (Swe) 70 69 72 73
