By PHILLIP ORWA
Nyali Golf & Country Club amateur Adel Balala took the lead after the first round of the NCBA Royal Classic, the second leg of the Sunshine Development Tour – East Africa Swing season being played at Royal Nairobi Golf Club over the weekend.
Balala carded an impressive 6-under par 66 to claim a one-shot advantage heading into Monday’s second round.
The Kenyan amateur made his intentions clear early in the round, producing a flawless opening nine that featured an eagle on the par-five third hole and a birdie on the seventh to make the turn at 3-under par.
He carried that momentum into the back nine with another birdie at the 10th, before a bogey at the 11th briefly threatened to stall his progress.
Balala responded impressively, picking up further birdies at the 12th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes to offset another dropped shot on the 14th and finish the day atop a highly competitive leaderboard.
Speaking after his round, Balala said: “I’m very pleased with how I played today. I stayed patient throughout the round, gave myself chances and managed to take advantage of most of them. The eagle on the third gave me a lot of confidence early on, and from there I focused on staying disciplined and sticking to my game plan. It’s only the first round, so there’s still a lot of golf to be played, but it’s always nice to put yourself in a good position heading into the next two days.”
Sharing second place is a three-way tie of Greg Snow, Daniel Nduva and Nelson Mudanyi, with the trio all carding 5-under par 67.
Muthaiga Golf Club’s Snow recovered from an early bogey on the third hole in spectacular fashion, reeling off four consecutive birdies from the fifth through to the eighth to vault himself into contention. He added further birdies on the 14th, 15th and 18th holes, with his only other blemish coming at the par-four 12th.
The strong finish leaves the former Sunshine Development Tour winner firmly in the hunt for his first title of the season.
On his part, Nyali Golf & Country Club pro Daniel Nduva’s round featured birdies on the fifth, 10th, 15th and 18th holes and a superb eagle on the 7th. His only dropped shot came on the first hole.
Mudanyi, meanwhile, produced one of the most aggressive rounds of the day, sinking six birdies on the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 11th, 12th, 15th and 16th holes. Despite bogeys on the 8th and 13th, the Muthaiga Golf Club professional remained firmly in contention and heads into the second round just one shot behind the leader.
Ken Abuto rounds off the top five on 2-under par 70, while England’s Elliot Bradley and Uganda’s Abraham Ainamani are the highest-placed international players after both carded rounds of 1-under par 71.
The tournament has attracted a strong field of 96 golfers from 11 countries, including professionals, elite amateurs, ladies and junior golfers competing for valuable Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Sunshine Development Tour Order of Merit points.
Following round two action on Monday, the top 30 players plus ties will proceed to play the final round on Tuesday, where they will battle for the title and a share of the Sh2 million prize money on offer.
