Discipline on and off golf course is necessary ingredient for success
Golf
By
Vincent Wangombe
| Mar 01, 2019
The record of Dismas “Mungu Mbele” Indiza is not simply the record of achievement of making cut at the Kenya Open, but rather the discipline and tenacity with which he approaches the game of golf.
As he received his first buffalo trophy on the Safari Tour this week at the Karen Country Club, he was cheered heartily by his fellow competitors who were genuinely happy for his win.
Apart from the Limuru Country Club leg where he came fourth, Indiza has been second in all the other Safari Tour competitions.
Greg Snow suffered a spectacular meltdown on the last nine holes of the final round where he had four bogeys and a triple-bogey to finish the round at seven over par.
This undid the good first three rounds and he ended up playing four over par. Indiza’s three over par after the fourth round was good enough to win the tournament.
The round at Karen Country Club came after the final Road to Kenya Open 2019 round at Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club last week where nine professional golfers won slots to play in the Magical Kenya Open from March 14-17.
At this bonus event, three slots were on offer to the best three professional golfers who had not received the slots through the Road to Kenya Open 2019.
Phillip Kasozi from Uganda won the first place with the best round of the final round of 69, two under par, to come in fourth in the tournament.
Justus Madoya from Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort took the second available spot.
Erick Ooko and Jacob Okello were tied at 12 over par after the fourth round. For the tie-breaker, the two went into a playoff on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes.
Ooko played three shots on the seventh, four on the eighth and three on the ninth. Okello on the other hand, played four on the seventh, five on the eighth and four on the ninth. With that win, Ooko was assured of the third spot.
During presentation, Patrick Obath, the Tournament Director of Kenya Open Golf Limited, said he had an extra slot for the Magical Kenya Open that he was going to give to Jacob Okello for his good performance.
With that announcement, we shall have 13 professional golfers, selected through the Safari Tour and six amateur golfers picked by the Kenya Golf Union.
“The Kenyan government requested us to help our Kenyan professional golfers to prepare for the Kenya Open. For this reason, we started the Safari Tour which had similar setup to what we expect at any European Tour event” said Patrick Obath during presentation after the Safari Tour event at the Karen Country Club.
Apart from the golf course setup, the Safari Tour also had Local Rules and a code of conduct that is fashioned along the lines of the European Tour.
Participants at the Safari Tour were expected to follow a code of conduct that required them to show respect to the course, fellow golfers and others on the course.
Professional golfers are expected to act as role models. Even when a referee is not watching, they must carry themselves in an honourable way.
Now that the Kenya Open will be live on TV in 490 million homes worldwide, we hope both the amateur and professional golfers who will represent Kenya will display good etiquette and not use foul language.
Golf captains can adopt a similar code of conduct at the club level to help curb the growing use (or is it misuse?) of phones and other vices on the golf course.
The captain can add a Local Rule that simply states that all golfers must adhere to the club’s code of conduct. The code of conduct can then be posted on the club’s notice board.
The code of conduct can include matters such as care of the course and respect and consideration for fellow golfers. This is where the club can include a pace of play policy and even stipulate how long groups should get around the course.
If all golf clubs in Kenya have a code of conduct, then in a few short years, we will improve the discipline of golfers across the country.
Mr Wang’ombe is a Kenya Golf Union Executive
golfbwana@gmail.com