Muthaiga's Nicholas Rokoine prepares to tee at the JTL Masters. He was crowned the overall winner after four days of intense competition.

By ENOCK NGOME

Muthaiga’s Nicholas Rokoine is the new JTL Masters Golf champion after being crowned the champion at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club, the last tournament for the local pros ahead of next week’s Kenya Open Golf Championships.

The Muthaiga resident pro ended the tournament on two under par 282 (67, 69, 71, 75), despite playing a final poor round of four over par 75 and walked home with the winner’s prize of Sh300, 000.

Rokoine said he missed the fairway twice that contributed to his woes.

At yesterday’s final round, Rokoine who started with a win in the first round before losing the second round but recovered to resume the lead in the third, he had a poor start dropping a shot on the par three second hole but dropped back to back shots on the par five hole four and par three hole five, before recovering with a back to back birdies on the par four hole six, par five seven and par four hole eight for a first nine score of 38.

In the second nine, Rokoine who won the KQ Pro Am a fortnight ago dropped two shots on the par five hole 10 and par four hole 12 for a score of 37. Windsor’s Riz Charania tied in the second position with Stephan Andersen on level par 284 and each pocket Sh175, 000 for their feat.

Charania played a round of four over 75 yesterday after he dropped three shots on the par four hole nine. He had previously dropped shots on the first and fifth holes to finish the first nine on a score of 41. He, however, tried to recover in the second nine where he sunk a birdie on the par five 18th to register a score of 34.

Andersen on the other hand posted one under par 70 picking three birdies and drooping two shots. Last year’s winner Greg Snow tied in the fourth spot with David Odhiambo on one over par 285. canada goose deutschland canada goose deutschland

WORTHY CAUSE: Coca-Cola’s General Manager-East Africa franchise Peter Njonjo hands over the cheque to KOGL chairman Peter Kanyago as KOGL director Kathleen Kihanya and KGU Vice Chairman Alfred Kariuki looks on.

By DISMAS INDIZA

Next week’s Kenya Open Golf Championships received a shot on the arm after soft drinks manufacturer Coca Cola, through its bottled water brand, Dasani sponsored the tournament to a tune of Sh3 million.

While presenting the sponsorship cheque, Coca-Cola’s General Manager-East Africa franchise Peter Njonjo said: “We are happy to come on board as the official water sponsor of the tournament yet again and through this journey we have been able to see the profile of tournament grow and due to this growth, we have been able to even increase our sponsorship, up from last year’s Sh1.5 million to this
year’s Sh3 million.”

He added: “Dasani targets confident, hopeful people who have a strong desire to realize their potential and choose their own path. The same can be said of the Barclays Kenya Open, a tournament that sees competitors step on the golf course, with the desire to excel, by claiming the top prize, not only at this tournament, but at the overall completion of the European Challenge Tour, of which this tournament is part of.”

Meanwhile, entries for the Kenya Open closed yesterday as the organized bowed to pressure to increase the number of local professionals in the tournament to 23 from 20. Initially, the organizers had only reserved 20 slots for the local professionals and it will be good news for some of the top local pros
who missed the initial 20-man list that was named two weeks ago.
“Entries have now closed for the Barclays Kenya Open Golf tournament and the full complement of 156 players has been filled. Kenya will have 23 professionals participating and for the first time in the
championships history, we will be holding two Pro-ams. One sponsored by Barclays Bank will be held at Muthaiga Golf Club and the other one sponsored by Kenya Airways in partnership with Boeing Dreamliner will be held at the Karen Country Club both events on Wednesday,” said Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) chairman Peter Kanyago.
Five winners from last year’s Challenge Tour events including reigning champion Michiel Bothma has confirmed participation. According to Kanyago, a total of 26 countries will be represented at the four
rounds championships, the highest number in the history of Kenya Open.
He said preparations for the tournament were complete, noting that the course was in good condition with well kept greens and tees.
“Though there are no rains, the greens and tees have been well maintained with the rest of the course getting minimum watering to conserve the water for the greens. This still has the course in excellent condition for the Open,” said Kanyago. michael kors handtasche michael kors handtasche