Dismas Indiza’s second hole eagle steered him to a one-shot lead on the third leg of the KCB Road To Karen Masters which teed off at the Par 72 Thika Sports Club.
An impressive 2 under on the front nine and 4 under on the back nine saw the Mumias long-hitter savour a scintillating start to the Thika Tour with a round of 6 under par 66 gross.
He hit the greens and fairways with precision and returned to the clubhouse (19th hole) brimming with confidence.
“Everything seemed to work out as planned and I’m glad I ended Day 1 on a high. I managed to hit the Thika fairways really well. My putting was all good. Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last day so I hope to stick with the same game plan, which is to keep the ball on the fairways,” said Indiza.
After sinking the hole two eagles, Indiza birdied hole 9 and bogeyed hole 4 for a total of 34 on the first nine. Despite a double bogey on the 18th, the Mumias pro managed four quick birdies on holes 10, 11, 12 and 13, 15 and 17 for a total of 32 on the back nine.
Sigona resident professional and PGK Captain CJ Wangai fired a round d of 5 under par 67 to end Day 1 in second place followed by Muthaiga’s Greg Snow who shot 2 under par 70. Joint fourth with a score of 1 under par 71 was Eric Ooko of Royal Nairobi and Kisumu-based David Odhiambo.
Sixth overall on level par were Golf Park’s Jacob Okello and Alfred Nandwa. Finishing joint 8th on 1 over par 73 were PGK Chairman Charan Thethy, G. Giddie. Hesbon Kutwa and Jeff Kubwa.
Play resumes today at 6:30 am. A total of 36 pros teed up for the two- day 36 hole stroke-play event which is one of the four legs being used to select the Kenya team to the 2019 KCB Karen Masters which will be a Sunshine Tour-sanctioned event for the second year running.
While the pros are looking to up their ante on the Order of Merit, their amateur counterparts will be fighting for a share of six Karen Masters Pro-am slots up for grabs on the Thika leg. The overall winner (amateur) will lead the six qualifiers from Thika to the Pro-Am in June.
The overall winner, men’s winner, lady winner, staff and guest winners and the third winner of the wildcard from Thika will bag automatic tickets to grace in the Karen Masters Pro-Am.
The wildcard slot which continues to generate considerable interest with the winner in the last two events having been determined from a lucky dip of scorecards on the “19th hole” will also be up for grabs.
Staff winners from KCB Bank will also be fighting for one of the five slots available for them in the Road To The Masters series. The ladies prize whose winner will play in the Pro-Am also awaits some cutthroat competition.
