An eagle at hole 13 made all the difference as Nicholas Wambugu emerged the winner of the last leg of the DTB ‘bank with us’ golf tournament played over the weekend at the nine-hole Eldoret Golf Club.
Despite firing a blank, Wambugu recorded a whooping 24 points in the second nine. He fired two birdies in the 16th and 8th, a rare eagle in 13th, a par in 12th and 17th, a bogey in 10th and 15th dropping two shots in 11th and a black in 14th, good enough to earn him the honours at home.
Playing in the last group, Wambugu had earlier carded 16 points in the first nine for a total of 40 points. He earned the 16 points when he carded a par in the first hole, dropping two in second, a blank in third, a par in the 4th, a bogey in 5th, 5th and 7th and ending with pars.
He said it was a celebration time that has taken him 15 years since he recorded his win, after leading Shanti Shah, Kiran Shah and Aron Kitur who recorded 39 points and leading on count-back.
“My first nine was not good. I managed to get 16 points. I never thought I would go ahead and win the tournament. Going into the second nine, I had to be calm, take everything easy and slow down my swing, in turn scooping 24 points to clinch this competitive tournament,” he said.
“There was nothing spectacular in the first nine and it was just luck. It is always nice to win a tournament with such magnitude. I’m hoping to do better next year. The organisation was fantastic and as a seasonal golfer, it is not that challenging when you find the course dry,” noted Wambugu.
Former Eldoret lady captain Esther Chumo was the gross winner with 78 points as Nandi Bears’ Michael Chebii claimed the first nine with 21 points. Former Nandi Bears’ lady captain Irene Brooker secured the second nine title with 20 points.
At hole 17, Habil Waswani and Linda Tororei were the longest drive winners as Ndiuini Gikonyo won the nearest to the pin award.
Former Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital Director John Kibosia won the senior player title on 36 points as Sasha Komen won the junior player award with 30 points.
