Karanga claims fourth Savannah tour title at Karen

Kiambu Golf Club top amateur Michael Karanga defied all odds to claim the fourth leg of the Savannah Golf Tour played at the par 72 Karen Country Club on Tuesday.

Karanga scored an impressive five-under par 67, beating a strong field of 81 top professional and amateur golfers.

He played a flawless first nine, scoring successive birdies in the first, second, and third holes, and held pars in the rest of the holes.

He carried on with his impressive performance in the second nine, where he hit birdies in the seventeenth and eighteenth holes and held pars in the rest.

For his efforts, he took home Ksh 115,000 in accordance with the updated 2022 Rules of Amateur Status as ratified by the Kenya Golf Union.

"I am very excited about this win today. We had a very strong field and the competitiveness was very high. I played my best golf, everything was working to my advantage,"

I have improved on my driver as I am hitting most fairways and my putting is also good. The course was playing easy for me and I was lucky to shoot five birdies. I am looking forward to the next leg of the tournament," said an elated Karanga.

Meanwhile, Isaiah Otuke, Jacob Okello, and amateur Denis Maara were tied in the second position, each having returned a score of four-under par 68. The three bagged Ksh 87,000 each for their exploits.

Vet Lab Sports Club's Otuke had a decent outing on the day, scoring birdies in the first, second, third, tenth, twelfth, and fifteenth holes.

Bogeys in the thirteenth and seventeenth holes would, however, hold him back as he held pars in the rest of the holes.

On his part, Golf Park’s Okello played a bogey-free round, scoring birdies in the third, fifth, and eighth holes on the front nine, while in the back nine, he scored birdies on the tenth and twelfth holes; holding pars on the rest of the holes.

Speaking during the event, Professional Golfers of Kenya Captain John Wangai said that the tournament had been well received by the players and is growing with each leg.

“The Savannah Tour is a tour for the players by players. The players come in and contribute towards the prize money. After the first event, we had well-wishers who came on board to top up the amount of money the players contributed.

We are happy that Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho supported this event with Ksh 400,000, raising the prize money to Ksh 800,000. The number of players also continues to grow as we had 81 golfers competing today which shows that the tournament has been well received and is really growing,” he said.