Golf: Singh Bhachu triumphs amid Covid-19 scare

Home golfer Davinder Singh Bhachu is the winner of Corporate Social Responsibility golf tournament played at Sigona Golf Club at the weekend.

Bhachu, playing off handicap 14, returned a solid score of 42 stableford points from his round of 18 to claim the top honours.

Playing to his home course advantage, Bhachu had a superb round as he carded 20 stableford points from the front nine and an additional 22 stableford points from the back nine to triumph at the par 72 course.

He got a lone birdie on the 17th hole with eight pars he sank on the opener, a par-four, par-three third, par-three fifth and par-four eighth hole.

Other pars were on the par-three 11th, par-four 12th, par-four 13th and par-four 16th holes.

His bogeys were picked from the par-four second, par-five fourth, par-four sixth, par-four seventh as well as the par-five ninth holes.

After the turn, he also bogeyed the par-five 10th, par-three 14th, par-five 15th and the final hole, a par-four 18th.

Bhachu’s great showing saw his handicap drop from 14 to 11.9 and will now play off handicap 12.

Unlike with the usual golf tradition, where the winner is required to give a short speech, there was no presentation dinner after the tournament, in compliance with guidelines issued by the government over curbing the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Many golf clubs across the country have been forced to either cancel or postpone major events as they seek to fight the spread of the virus.

Kenya Seed sponsored tournament at Kitale Sports Club was cancelled at the last minute as well as Thika Greens’ Captain’s Prize. [Mose Sammy]

, which was slated for last Saturday.

Ruiru Sports Club also cancelled its Chairman’s Prize, so did Nakuru Golf Club (Madison Golf tournament).

Another major event that has been postponed is the 96-year-old Tannahill Shield, which was historically played over the Easter weekend.

While on the international golfing scene, the pandemic has seen the cancellation/postponement of the Players Championship, Valspar Championship, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship.

Other events are Valero Texas Open, the Masters in Augusta, RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic, Wells Fargo Championship, AT&T Byron Nelson and the now the PGA Championship.

On the European Tour, the Magical Kenya Open, the Hero Indian Open, Maybank Championship, Volvo China Open, Andalucia Masters and the Czech Masters, have all been cancelled or postponed.

On the LPGA, Honda LPGA Thailand, HSBC Women’s World Championship, Blue Bay LPGA, Founders Cup, Kia Classic and the ANA Inspiration, have been affected.