Amazing display

By ERICK OCHIENG’

The pair of Jeff Bamford and Bob Oliver are the winners of the Tusker Malt Golf Carnival championship held at Karen Country Club at the weekend.

Bamford, playing off handicap-18, combined well with Oliver, handicap 15, to post scores of 24 points through the first nine and 23 through the second nine.

The pair, playing in the Four Ball-Better-Ball format secured pars on the par four first and par five second before dropping a shot onthe par five third.

Bob Oliver follows his tee during the Tusker Malt Golf Carnival at Karen Country Club on Saturday. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

Two more pars followed on the fourth and fifth holes and again on the seventh and ninth holes.

Commenting on their front nine performance, Bamford said they had combined well.

"Bob made some amazing par saves on the seventh and ninth holes and that gave us momentum going into the second nine," Bamford said.

"Playing in this Four-Ball-Better-Ball Format is excellent and we expect other events to follow the lead of Tusker Malt,"he added.

On the second nine, Oliver was on fire, making four back-to-back pars from the 11th to the14th.

Morale booster

"Bob’s par on the long par four 13th was a huge morale booster for us," Bamford added. "And although we could not make par between us from the 15th, we knew we had played well," he added.

In the end, there performance was enough for victory and they will now lead five Karen teams to the Tusker Malt Golf Carnival Grand Finale at the Muthaiga Golf Club next month.

The long hitting pair of Anthony Gacheru and Guto Mogere, who were widely expected to perform well at Karen, collapsed under all the hype, media spotlight and attention.

Mogere hit it long all day but failed to find a single fairway, spending his time in the bush instead.

Lost his ball

Guto’s highlight came on the 13th hole where his tee shot veered way right and although he lost his ball, he did find safari ants that crawled up his golf slacks, forcing him to to undress!

Gacheru, the acting Captain at Karen was brillaint on the microphone but misereable on the golf course! This young dream team finished poorly, but in their credit, they did provide much entertainment!

The team of Mark Williams and Manfred Egger finished second with 46 points, beating the all-lady team of Gathoni Kanyago and Rosemary Njogu on count back.

Williams and Egger started cold, managing only 21 points on the front nine. They, however, finished with a blistering 25 points on the back nine.

Kanyago and Njogu reversed that scoring sequence, posting an amazing 27 points on the front nine. However, with thoughts of victory on their minds, they collapsed and a dismall 19 points was all they could secure on the back nine.

The team of Owino Ayodo and James Muita finished in fourth place with 43 points, beating the team of Mike and Helen Smith on count back.

Victor Kyalo and David Muthike were the guest winners on 43 points.