• Muthaiga junior Mutahi Kibugu and B. Gatunda beat John Kogo and Rachit Patel 3-1.
• Windsor, who finished last on 15 points have been relegated and will be replaced by Karen Country Club next year.
Hosts Royal Nairobi Golf Club regained the Tannahill Shield title for the second year running following brilliant display on the last two days of the Betway-sponsored tournament.
After trailing Railways on the opening day. Royal intensified their campaign snatching the lead on the penultimate day but not without a struggle on the closing day which saw them beat Western to the title by a solitary point.
Royal garnered 43 points, Western 42 while Mombasa finished third on 37.
Muthaiga who last won the event in 2017 finished a disappointing fourth with 36points.
Royal had their title campaign effectively sewn up on the last day when they beat Muthaiga 6-2 and Vet Lab Sports Club 7-1.
Muthaiga pair of B. Chandaria and N. Chandaria lost 3-4 to Royal’s Jatinder Thethy and K. Gatiramu. Thethy and Gatiramu were three up after the first nine holes.
K. Nathwanj and John Gitonga of Muthaiga lost 3-2 to the hosts’ pair of Jay Sandhu and Qur’an Bhatti. They were all square at the first nine holes.
Muthaiga junior Mutahi Kibugu and B. Gatunda beat John Kogo and Rachit Patel 3-1.
Muthaiga junior Taimur Malik and his partner, Evans Vitisia lost 1-2 to Joshua Ichangi and Kevin Juma. Joshua and Kevin were two up at the first nine.
Royal coach Charan Thethy attributed the win to the inclusion of junior players this year.
The three juniors are Njogu Kungu, Gatiramu and Wambugu Ikinu.
“The young boys played their hearts out. Hats off to the seniors too. After trailing Railway on the opening day we kept pushing hard and luckily we were back on the summit at the penultimate stage on Saturday. We knew Western would come hard at us with the good game they displayed. The tournament was closely fought this year but really exciting. When we lost to Muthaiga in 2017 we went back to the drawing board to see how best to launch a good comeback. We will be back next year hoping to extend our winning run,” said Charan.
Windsor, who finished last on 15 points have been relegated and will be replaced by Karen Country Club next year.
Betway who are the primary sponsors of the event were represented by Country Manager Leon Kiptum who said: “As Betway, we consider ourselves a unique brand offering our customers unrivalled, memorable, enjoyable entertainment products. Thus we felt it was good for us to offer the same to the Tannahill Shield 2019 by bringing a different experience to the competition. We are very proud to have been the title sponsor for the tournament this year and hope you enjoyed yourselves.
As with any sport, prowess is the ultimate goal and we appreciate the efforts that Tannahill Shield has put in in terms of growing and nurturing golfing talent in the country. This has been evident following the junior title that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday from which we have seen great upcoming junior golf players. These rising stars are proving to be the future of golf in this country and beyond.”