Duncan Kivuitu has successfully defended his title at the Minet Golf Tournament held at the Karen Country Club, carding an exceptional 46 stableford points to be declared the overall winner.
Kivuitu, playing off a handicap of 18, managed to improve on his previous winning mark of 43 stableford points, navigating the course with precision to secure the top spot in a tightly contested leader-board.
“Defending this title at Karen Country Club is an incredible feeling, especially seeing the improvement in my game from last year’s 43 stableford points to 46 stableford points on Friday. While my drives and second shots felt solid, the real difference was on the greens.
“Despite the challenging scarified surfaces, I focused on chipping close to the pin to leave myself with manageable putts. Between the pristine course conditions and the great company on the links, everything just clicked into place to make this consecutive win possible,” said Kivuitu.
Men’s category highlights
Alex Gachanja pushed the champion to the wire, finishing as the Man Winner with a stellar 45 stableford points, just one point shy of the overall winner.
Gachanja was followed by Eric Kinuthia, who secured the Man Winner runner-up spot with 42 stableford points, while Renato De’Souza took home the third-place prize with a compact 40 stableford points.
Ladies winners
Muthaiga Golf Club’s Mary Mbataru delivered a commanding performance. Returning a solid score of 40 stableford points, she clinched the Lady Winner prize, outpacing Faith Macharia, who scored 38 points to finish second.
The “Industry Winner” category saw Felix Ochieng claim top honours with 40 stableford points, narrowly beating out Anthony Kiragu, who was second with 39 stableford points.
Other accolades
Minet’s Joe Onsando bagged the Staff Prize with an impressive 44 stableford points.
The Guest Prize was decided by a close margin, after Ken Mwangi (40 stableford points) edged Raj Shah (also with 40 stableford points) on a countback to lead the visiting golfers.
The tournament also recognised excellence across the front and back nines. Taking the nines was the duo of Tobias Gitonga and Tony Njuguna, who managed 25 and 22 stableford points for the First and Second nines respectively.
Minet Kenya, CEO, Sammy Muthui, lauded the high level of sportsmanship and the impressive scores recorded.
Muthui noted that Kivuitu’s back-to-back victory cements his status as a formidable force in the local golfing circuit.
“In today’s world, peace of mind is not a luxury; it’s an essential risk management tool. In both business and golf, it’s not how hard you hit the ball, it’s how well you recover from the rough,” the Minet Kenya CEO said.
What a fantastic achievement for Duncan! It’s great to see a local player so confidently secure the win.