Snow claims third Safari Tour victory

Safari tour fourth round winner Greg Snow at Muthaiga Golf Club, January 16, 2019. [Mose Sammy, Standard]

Muthaiga Golf Club’s Greg Snow maintained an impressive form at his home club to claim third title and fourth top prize at the 2018/19 Safari Tour golf series season.

Snow, who had played an impressive round of 7-under par in round 3, started the final round in good form hitting par in the opening two holes before dropping shots at the par-4 3rd and par-4 9th. He however managed a lone birdie in the first nine at the par-5 7th for a total of 36. 

He then followed it up with an impressive back nine score of 34, with birdies at the par-4 14th and Par-5 18th, to return a score of one under par 70 for the round, taking his total to an impressive 13-under par 271, 15 strokes ahead of the duo of Dismas Indiza and Riz Charania who were tied for second place. With this score, Snow became the first player in the Safari Tour to return scores of under par in all the four rounds.

Speaking after the win, Greg credited his work on his shots. “After Thika, I noticed that my shot game was a bit off, so I put some bit of work on it and I am glad to see the results. The hot conditions in the last five days made the greens a bit faster but I managed to keep up and I am pleased with my overall performance.”

“I’ll take a few days of rest before getting back to work ahead of the last leg in Karen.”  

Snow extended his overall lead on the Road to the 2019 Kenya Open ranking to 95.5 points; having picked up maximum points in the last four Safari Tour events. For his efforts, Snow took home Sh450,000 following the tripling of the prize money as a result of a boost in sponsorship from Johnnie Walker and Barclays Bank of Kenya.

Mumias-based Dismas Indiza, returned an impressive score of 2-under par 69, the best of the fourth round to see him finish the tournament with a total of 2-over par 286, tied for second with Riz Charania. Simon Ngige at 4-over par 288 and David Wakhu at 6-over par 290, rounded up the top five positions at Muthaiga.

Meanwhile, Edwin Mudanyi was crowned the Amateur winner, after returning a decent score of 14-over par 298, to place him 14th on the overall log. Mudanyi was happy with the exposure.

“It has been a great experience playing with the pros, my overall performance has given me great confidence and will go a long way in further preparing me to become a professional.”

Kenya Open Golf Championship tournament director Patrick Obath said he was impressed with the rising standards of the game.  

“We have seen a steady improvement in the standards of play during the tour, today Greg Snow became the first golfer in the series to return scores of under par through out the four rounds of play. It is performances like these that make us confident of great performances by our pros at the upcoming Kenya Open.”

Obath said there were plans to include regional tournament’s in this year’s edition of the series.

“This year we are looking at including regional tournaments in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi to the Safari Tour, this will ensure that we grow the sport of Golf around the region.”

Safari tour action resumes next month with the last leg set for Karen Country Club.