Soin tops in Crown Berger golf event

By James Waindi

Karen's Padam Soin braved a stiff challenge to beat a large field of seasoned Nairobi and Thika players and win in the first event of the inaugural Crown Berger Golf Series at the difficult par 71 Railways Golf Club at the weekend.

Soin, playing off handicap 15, posted 37 Stableford points made of 20 points in the front nine and 17 points in the back nine.

He started the first nine with a bogey on the first and carded five consecutive pars on the ensuing holes, before dropping two shots on the seventh and eighth and finished the last hole with a level par for 20 points.

Handicap 15 Larry Otieno’ comes from the bunker at the 18th green during the first event of the Crown Berger Golf Series at Railways Golf Club on Saturday. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

On the back nine, the Karen golfer dropped a single shot each on the first three holes and recovered with a par on the 13th. He had a bogey on the 14th, followed it up with three pars before dropping two shots on the last hole for 17points.

"I played well, despite the captain trying to make the greens very hard for us, I focused on what had brought me here today and that’s how I won," said Soin during the winners’ speech.

Home player Jackson Karuga posted 36 points (20, 16) to settle for the runner-up position. He started with three pars on the first three holes before dropping a shot on the fourth, but levelled the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, before dropping a shot on the ninth for a score of 20 points in the first nine.

At the back nine, Karuga picked a birdie on the 10th hole, had a par on the 11th and 12th but played a bogey on the 13th.He got an impressive two club on the par four, 14th and 15th, before playing a par on the 16th and picked a shot on the 17 the but dropped a shot on the last hole to get 16 points.

Paul Majau 35, Larry Otieno 35, and David Mathenge 35, finished third to fifth respectively.

In the ladies category, Dorcas Njogu from Thika Sports Club was unbeatable as won ladies prize after she combined 16 points on the front nine and 18 points on the back nine for a total of 33 points. Betty Ndirangu was the runner-up on 32 points, while Rose Ikenye posted 28 points to settle for the third position.

Willam Kariuki took home the 1st nine prize after posting 21 points and Patrick Kingori amassed 18 points to win the second nine score on 18 points. The Longest Drive Men prize went to Francis Kaniaru and the ladies longest drive went to veteran Mary Wainaina. John Komo won the nearest to the pin prize and handicap 23 John Gateru won the Guest prize on 37 points.

Royal: February Mug Sponsored by Channel Insurance Brokers, Div A Winner- Q Bhatti 40 points, Div A Runner up- K. S. Syan 38 points, Div A Best Qualifier- Ronnie Dennis 35 points; Div B Winner- Peter Musango 39 points, Div B Runner up- G. M. Njiri 37 points, Div B Best Qualifier- Azhar Mughal 36 points; Div C Winner- Julius Kandie 40 points, Div C Runner up- E. Wachira 36 points C/B, Div C Best Qualifier- Julius Kipketer 36 points c/b; G S Badhan; Gross Winner- Q Bhatti 75Gross, Sponsors prize, Men Winner- Q Bhatti 40 points, Men Runner Up- Julius Kandie 40 points, Men third- Peter Musango 39 points; Best Lady- Vinneta Babra 37 points; 1st Nine- Aamil Mughal 21 points, 2nd Nine- K. S. Syan 25 points; Gross Winner- Q Bhatti 75 Gross.

Muthaiga: The Golf Shop Golf Day, Men winner- Steve Waruhiu 40 (20, 20), Runner/up- David Farrar 39 (19, 20), Third- B I Waireg 39 (20, 19), Fourth- Michael Itote 39 (20, 19), Lady winner- Susan Kanyora 35 (17, 18), Junior winner- Arnold Ngunjiri 40 (19, 21), Guest winner- Kingori Kariuki 37 (18, 19), Guest R/Up- Steve Kamau 37 (20, 17).

Sigona: Dedan Kimathi Memorial, Winner- John Ndichu 41 pts, Winner Guest- Joe Kihanya 36pts, R/up- Nikunj Shah 39 pts, Third- Paul Kaguamba 38 pts, Fourth- Rajeev Mediratta 38pts, First Nine- SS Ghalay 22pts, Second nine- Naftali Kibuku 21pts, Longest drive- John Ndichu, Nearest Drive- Haki Sehmi.