By PHILLIP ORWA
Senior Kabundi emerged Victorious to beat a strong field of over 160 golfers, including seven junior golfers, becoming the overall combined winner during the NCBA-sponsored Kiambu Golf Club Captain’s Prize on Saturday, November 8th.
Kabundi managed a score of 72 on aggregate to floor all the other players and emerged the best as the club bid farewell to outgoing Captain William Muguima in the annual event.
David Thiong’o emerged the overall winner on Saturday with 42 points, playing off handicap 25 as JK Muchai(19) carded 37 points to win the men’s category, while Rose Kabutha won the ladies category after beating Beatrice Kungu on countback after both carded 35 points.
NCBA Group Director of Corporate & Investment Banking Advisory, Tirus Mwithiga, played a good round to win the Sponsor category with 35 points off handicap 11.
The week-long tournament featured the Clergy and Friends event, juniors day, a seniors tournament, and a special curtain raiser, and will have a Caddies Tournament on Monday, November 10th.
Speaking after his round on Saturday, the outgoing Captain Muguima pointed out a high uptake of the game by junior players at the club in the last year as one of his biggest achievements.
“Today was a good day, and I am happy that the week has ended well. Congratulations to all the winners throughout the week as we celebrated the Captain’s Prize. My tenure has been exceptional, and I believe we have achieved a lot. Our biggest achievement has
been on the junior front, where we have had more than 30 players get their handicaps this year. As a result, we have made sure that we reserved slots for junior players every time we have a tournament at the club, and we hope to see more juniors taking up the sport,” Muguima said.
Elsewhere, three more golfers booked their slots for the upcoming 2025 NCBA Golf Series as the qualifying phase of the tournament came to an end on Saturday at the Nyahururu Golf Club.
Cyrus Lwenyi carded an impressive 37 points to emerge the overall winner and lead his clubmates to the Gand Finale qualification. Playing off 6, Samuel Njenga won the Overall Men category with a similar score as Lwenyi, who had a better score on countback.
Florence Wanjiru carded 34 points off handicap 12 to grab the Overall Lady title, joining Lwenyi, Njenga and other players from different clubs on the list for the Grand Finale.
Focus now turns to the Grand Finale showdown set to take place at Muthaiga on Saturday, November 28th.