By Miguel Suleyman
Kenyan lady Chanelle Wangari was East Africa’s brightest star in the first round of the R&A Ladies Invitational Golf Tour at the Leopard Creek course in Mpumalanga despite ending third overall with 73 strokes at the end of the 18th hole this evening.
The Kenyan young lady had enjoyed a comfortable one-under lead until the 15th hole where she wasted two shots that placed her in the third position at the end of the first day’s tee-off.
Another Kenyan, Bianca Ngecu, also enjoyed a good outing at the venue after posting four over par 76 strokes, the fourth-best score of the first round.
Tanzanian lady, Madina Iddi, who carded seven over par 79 strokes, also played well as her score was the 7th best of the day.
But things were very tough for the East African quartet; Peace Kabasweka, Martha Babirye (Ugandans), Vicky Elias (Tanzanian), and Joyce Wanjiku (Kenyan) who claimed inferior positions, most notably suffered from first nine woes.
Babirye, who posted 17 over, finished 20th one position above the bottom-placed Talia Samir of Egypt
Kabasweka, Wanjicu, and Elias claimed the 16th position after they tied on 86 gross strokes.
The hosts South Africa dictated terms in the opening round, producing all the day’s best scores.
Lisa Coetzer leads the race with a brilliant two under par 70 strokes closely followed by her countrymates Gia Raad and Robbi Brown both with a par level 72 strokes.
South African players largel dominate the best-ten list with Kesha Louw finishing fifth with 5 over, Isabella Fereira at the seventh position and Olivia Wood coming next with 6 over.
The bottom-placed South African was Zane Kleynhans who tied with a Tanzanian envoy, Madina Iddi after both posted 79 strokes.
As per scores, the first 9 holes posed a big problem to the East Africans.
Kabasweka, Babirye, and Wanjiku were struggling with 14 over at the end of the first nine, but they improved much in the second nine where they posted no more than 4 over.
“The first nine holes were very tricky, I lost four shots there. I steadied my hand and played better in the second nine where I squandered three shots,” explained Madina.
Vicky Elias had 9 over at the end of the 14th hole, but she wasted three shots in the last two holes.
The three-day tournament continues tomorrow where the golfers will complete the second 18 holes of the 54-hole event.
