Rookie Njoroge makes cut on Kenya Open debut

Railways golf club's professional golfers Samuel Njoroge played a decent round in the second round of the ongoing Magical Kenya Open to card three under par 68 and a combined two under par after two rounds to make cut. 

Starting the round at one over par from his first round score, Njoroge picked a stroke at the par-four first hole, dropped shots at par-four third and par-four eighth and a birdie in his final hole of the front nine, the par-four ninth to head to the back nine on level par. 

At the back nine, the 27-year old picked back-to-back birdies at the par-five 11th and 12th, dropped a shot at the par-four 13 and made his chances to make cut even better with back-to-back birdies at the par-three 14 and par-four 14th for 33 out and a three under par 68 for the round. 

The younger brother to pro golfer John Wangai, had picked two eagles one at the par-four eighth and another at the par-five 12th as well as three birdies in the first round but six bogeys and a double-bogey at the 16th denied him an under par score on the first round. 

"I was relaxed in the second round compared to how I played on the first day. Having already played the course on day one, I knew my way around and played better. However, I lost the ball on the seventh and 14th but I recovered well. Those two holes have bothered me in the last two rounds but I am hoping to handle them better in the remaining two rounds. Going forward, I am looking at playing better than I did in the second round and make my country sponsors and myself proud," said the soft-spoken golfer. 

Njoroge turned pro just a week before the Safari Tour, the tournament that qualifies Kenyan golfers to the Open, teed-off at Limuru in early October last year. 

He had to play catch up in his qualification journey as majority of the golfers had a head start from the last two Safari Tours. The organisers had decided that 30 percent of the qualifying total would be drawn for the 2018/19, 2019/20 seasons of the Safari. Since Njoroge was an amateur then, he had to rely on 70 percent from the 2020/21 Safari Tour to qualify, which turned out well for him