Four lead the way as Kenya Savannah Classic tees off

By Larry Ngala

Four players tied at the top of the leaderboard in a tight opening round of the inaugural Kenya Savannah Classic, supported by ABSA, at the par 71 Karen Country Club course Tuesday.

Led by the Netherlands’ Joost Luiten, the four shot seven under par 64 as Kenya’s David Wakhu fired five under par 66 and was tying for 11th place.

Luiten picked up three birdies at the first nine’s first and fifth as well as a late one at the ninth. He then birdied the first three holes at the back nine and later on the 16th to sign off with a bogey-free round.  

“Seven under is a really good score around here. No bogeys on the card is always a good thing and seven birdies. I had a couple more chances but I’m very happy with seven under and it’s a good position for the rest of the week.

"It was pretty similar out there, I don’t know if the course has really changed. It’s still almost a little bit softer because they had a bit of rain overnight. A little bit of wind like you’d expect as we had every day last week. So you know the course and you know what to do. It was good to come out with a good start, starting with three birdies – that really gets your round going and I just kept plotting away from there.

"You don’t see this type of course any more, they’re all long, big wide with bunkers everywhere. But here you’ve got to think you’re way around, you’ve got to avoid the trees. As long as you do that you have a shot. Every hole you can play in three or four different ways, and you don’t really see that very often, so it’s a very clever design," the Dutch player said.

He was followed immediately at the top by Frenchman Clement Sordet, who played five under at the front nine with birdies at the second, third, sixth, seventh and ninth.

A bogey at the 11th however spoiled what was going to be the leading score of the round, though he managed to recover with two quick birdies at the 12th, 13th and at the 16th. 

"It was really good fun – last week was not great, I didn’t play my best but I practiced well yesterday and my game feels really good now. I just didn’t score well last week so it’s nice to score seven under today. It’s just about getting used to the grass, obviously it’s different grass to Europe, but I think I shot nine under in the practice round for this event. It’s always nice to play well after a good practice round because obviously you want to score well in the tournament so it’s been great.

"On this course it’s key to score well from the sixth to the 12th and I was two under after three holes. So I was thinking, I could shoot a good score but I was just thinking one shot at a time, not to worry about the score, and I managed to shoot seven under.I know I’ve been playing well lately without scoring well so I just need to keep going one shot at a time, stay positive and have a good attitude.

"It’s great fun playing here, there are not many drivers on the course. It’s mostly irons or three woods, so everybody can score well here. It’s not a long course and the ball is going miles, so all you’ve got to do is make the putts," he said.

Also finishing on seven under par was Magical Kenya Open champion Justin Harding, who birdied the second, sixth, seventh and ninth at the front nine, then rolled in birdies at the 10th, 12th and another one at the 13th, before winding up the day with a late birdie at the 17th which came after a bogey at the 16th.  

Seven other players were on six under par, while a shot behind them 14 players on five under par.

Those included Kenya’s David Wakhu, who recovered from an early bogey at the third, to birdie the sixth, and the 10th with an eagle coming there after the 11th. He then picked up a late birdie at the 17th to tie for 13th place.

“I did not start well as I made a bogey early, but I am happy the day ended well and I am looking forward for another good day tomorrow," said Wakhu, one of the 13 Kenyans professionals in the tournament.

Of the rest of the Kenyans, Riz Charania, Samuel Njoroge and Greg Snow were on level par 71 with each hoping to do well in the second round.

This article was originally published by Daily Nation. [Photo: IMG Kenya/Caleb Oketch]