Kenya’s top two amateurs Michael Karanga and John Lejirmah tied at the top of the leader board on level par, as the 103rd edition of the annual Coast Open comes to end on Sunday at the par 71 Mombasa Golf Club course.
Karanga, from Kiambu Golf Club, shot three under par 68 to bring his aggregate to level par 142 and a chance for another victory in the series which he has dominated since the season started in January.
He played a conservative front nine where parred from the first hole to the seventh, birdied the eighth, then started the back nine with two quick birdies at the 10th and 11th, added one more at the 14th, then missed a par at the par five- 17th to drop his only shot of the day.
“It was a bit tough today because of the rain but I am happy I was able to pick up more birdies and avoided many bogeys” said Karanga who intends to go for more birdies in the final round.
Lejirmah on the other hand birdied the first and eighth at the from nine, bogeyed the seventh, parred from the 10th to 15th dropped a shot at the par three-16th, his second bogey so far on that hole but managed to redeem himself with a birdie at the 17th, missed one narrowly at the 18th for one under par 70 to also close the day on 142.
“I did not want to be too aggressive today as I really wanted to stay at a challenging position for the title’,” said the 2022 Golfer of The Year champion.
The two leaders are six shots clear ahead of Golf Park’s Rafael Leming’ani and Muthaiga Golf Club’s John Koina.
Leming’ani shot four over par 75 for 148 while Koina carded his second 74 to tie for the third place, with Josphat Rono breathing fire just behind them on 149 after a 77 in the second round.
A total of 40 players including all the three ladies Joyce Wanjiru, Joyce Masai and Jackie Walter, made the 26 over par cut and will now be battling it out to try and finish in the money list in the event being sponsored by the Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series title sponsor NCBA Bank.
Other sponsors are Kalamar, Britam, Majani Insurance Brokers, Bicorn Exim Tea Brokers and hole-in-one sponsors Khushi Motors – who have now replaced the Toyota Camry with a Sh3 million Jaguar which will be at stake at the par three-12th hole in the final round.
Michael Karanga 74, 68= 142
John Lejirmah 72, 70= 142
Rafael Leming’ani 73, 75= 148
Frank Munyuah 79, 71= 150
Godfrey Nsubuga(Ug) 78, 72= 150
