Madoya started his round with a par on the first, following this up with three bogeys; on the second, fifth and sixth, and one birdie on the fourth, for a front nine score of 2-over par, 38.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 12 – Great Rift Valley’s Justus Madoya shot a round of par, 71 to set the early pace after round one action at the Muthaiga Golf club Safari tour leg on Sunday.
The ABSA sponsored golfer now sits two strokes ahead of the Muthaiga duo of Greg Snow and Jeff Kubwa, who alongside Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh and Limuru’s John Karichu, shot rounds of 2-over par, 73.
Madoya started his round with a par on the first, following this up with three bogeys; on the second, fifth and sixth, and one birdie on the fourth, for a front nine score of 2-over par, 38.
At the back nine Madoya started off with a birdie on the par-5 tenth, hitting further birdies at the twelfth, thirteenth and eighteenth while bogeying the fourteenth and sixteenth for a score of 2-under par, 33 and a round score of par, 71.
Johnnie Walker sponsored Snow, dropped two shots in the round, both on the front nine, at the par-5 fourth and par-4 eighth, while holding par through the rest of the holes for a 2-over par score, club compatriot Jeff Kubwa had a similar run, with his dropped shots coming at the second and eighth.
Nigeria’s Odoh hit back-to-back bogeys at the second and third, before momentarily recovering with a birdie at the fourth, he would go on to drop further shots at the sixth, ninth and twelfth, with his second birdie coming at the thirteenth for a round score of 2-over par, 73.
The quartet sit one shot ahead of Vet Lab’s duo of Edwin Asuza and Isaiah Otuke, Rwanda’s Aloys Nsabimana, Uganda’s Philip Kasozi, Mohit Mediratta, Golf Park’s Anthony Juma and amateur Zubair Khan who are tied in sixth on scores of 3-over par, 74.
It was a tough round characterised by high scores, with the course wet and soft, the round also saw two withdrawals by Alfred Nandwa and Charan Thethy due to injuries, with amateurs Wassim Ali and Chanelle Wangari failing to make the CUT to play in the second round after returning scores of 93 and 97 respectively.
