This archive report was first published on 25 August 2019.
Published on August 25, 2019, by Larry Ngala, a sports journalist with extensive experience in covering golf tournaments in East Africa.
At the Nyali Golf and Country Club in Mombasa, Kenya, Golf Park's Jacob Okello has taken an early lead in the Nyali Safari Tour golf series after a level-par 71 in the first round on Sunday.
Okello's impressive performance was marred by a triple bogey at the par-five first hole, but he managed to recover with birdies on the third and fifth holes.
"It was a bad shot on the first hole which I usually play well, but when the ball hit a tree and flew to the left, I knew I was in trouble," Okello said, reflecting on his early struggles.
However, Okello's fortunes changed with a clean back nine, which included birdies on the 11th and 15th holes, to share the top position with Alfred Nandwa from Kenya Railway Golf Club and Uganda Open champion Dismas Indiza.
Indiza, who started well with a bogey-free first nine, including birdies at the first, fifth, and eighth holes, was happy with his round, despite a bogey start at the back nine and a double at the 12th hole.
"First round is unpredictable, though level par is not a bad start, and I am looking forward to trying to stay focused in the next rounds," Indiza said, looking ahead to the next rounds.
Monday's second round will determine the top 20 players who will proceed to the last two rounds, with the last team to tee off at 12:20 pm.
