Outward nines form anchors Machakos hotelier to victory with 44 Stableford points

The Standard County Golf Classic overall winner David Kimanthi at Machakos Sports Club, March 30, 2019. [Mose Sammy, Standard]

Machakos based hotelier David Kimanthi returned a sterling score of 44 Stableford points to claim the Standard County Golf Classic overall prize at the par 72 Machakos Sports Club course over the weekend.

Playing off handicap 21, Kimanthi, a member of Royal Nairobi Golf Club, shot a great outward nine from where he collected pars on the par-five first, par-four fifth and par-three eighth hole. He bogeyed the par-four third, par four fourth, par-four sixth and par-four seventh before icing it with a birdie on the par-five ninth having scratched the par-three second, for a neat opening round total of 23 Stableford points.

Buoyed by the good showing on the front nine, Kimanthi who runs the T-Tot Hotels in Machakos town, sunk back-to-back pars on the par-five 10th, par-three 11th and par-four fourth.

The businessman found the going tough when he double-bogeyed the par-four 13th, par-four 14th and suffered further when he dropped shots on the par-four 15th to record a double-bogey.

Par-four 16th yielded yet another bogey before rolling in a vital birdie on the par-three 17th only to dilute the gains with a double-bogey on the par-five 18th.

Nevertheless, Kimathi earned an additional 21 Stableford points to take his round total to 44 Stableford points.

“The fairways were fair; the greens were awesome. My driver was great my short-game was a bit shaky missing out on two obvious birdie putts. It’s a great feeling to win in such a big tournament,” he said.

A field of 88 golfers drawn from host club Machakos Sports Club, Royal Nairobi Golf Club, Limuru Golf & Country Club, Nandi Bears Golf Club, Nakuru Golf Club, Kitale Club, Nyali Golf & Country Club, Thika Sports Club, Ruiru Sports Club and Karen Golf & Country Club among others participated in the daylong tourney.

The tournament was presented by The Standard Group PLC, the publishers of The Standard, The Nairobian, Mt Kenya Star, Pambazuko, Pulse, Eve Woman, Hustle, The Sunday, Crazy Monday and Financial Standard.

Standard Group also boasts KTN News, KTN Home,  KTN Burudani, Farmers TV and Radio Maisha and Spice FM among other top brands.  Standard Digital and online publication with over 16 million hits on its site are also Standard Group’s portfolios.

The Standard Group PLC CEO Orlando Lyomu praised the Machakos Golf Club’s management for the great work they’ve put in to maintain the course.

“We pride ourselves as being the oldest media house not only in Kenya but in this region. We claim our glory by being the pacesetters by churning out innovative products, informative and entertaining,” said Lyomu.